Our Darkest Days
by Bitumz
Summary: She finds herself confused, sick, and stowed away in the Asgardian prison under the Allfather's bitter command. He can only bear to believe that circumstances may just finally be falling into his favor. Lokane.
1. Change of Fate

_~  
"The one bright light in Asgard is its darkest soul."  
_

Within lies a tale of darkness and strife.

Personal growth.

And unimagined change.

* * *

~  
_"The city dressed in jewels and gold,_  
_fine linen, Myrrh and pearls_  
_Her plagues will come all at once_  
_as her mourners watch her burn"_  
~

* * *

He hung his head over the book in his lap, dark unruly hair spilling over drooped shoulders. He had missed the distant explosion entirely.

Though his eyes searched the pages, their contents were lost from his sight. Foul memories took the place of words, playing over and over again without fail. Plaguing him as he sat simmering – rotting away in a tomb of white. Handcuffed and gagged before being stowed away in a cage as if he were nothing more than a unruly beast.

What he always had been in their eyes he supposed.

He had only tried to master the task that befell upon him. The task he had been granted on the day of his birth.

To rule.

He would have finally had a kingdom of his own without the foolish Allfather or his wretched _brother _there to get in his way. It was so close, he had almost tasted it. A bright glimpse of glory outside the enveloping cast of Thor's shadow – but just as always, the clouds had rolled in over the rising sun and thunder soon followed.

Movement to his right, just beyond the glass barrier of his cell snapped him from his reverie. He slowly straightened his back flat against the wall.

Loki watched on as two Asgardian guards – the same cretins that he had allowed to usher him to his own cell only a few days ago – drug a young mortal down the hall, her feet half scraping, half stepping under her. Her hands were cuffed to her sides and the pair of _Asgard's finest_ were tense in her presence, their gazes flickering from her to one another then back again as she slowly came to.

He couldn't help but inwardly scoff at the idea of such a creature being threatening enough to need restraints. What could a Midgardian have done to end up in the prisons of Asgard? They were just letting anyone in these days it seemed.

She was a sickly looking thing. He noticed it when the guards turned her to remove her chains and place her in the cell just past his. Her gaze was turned down but he studied what he could of it. Her face was drawn – pale, her blinking eyes opening to search the bared skin of her arms just before she turned the corner to her cell.

That's when he saw it. A flicker of red glowing just beneath the surface of the skin above her wrist. It snaked down a vein, vanishing just as quickly as it had appeared.

Just long enough to leave him frozen where he sat.

He remembered it then. A faint whisper of conscious memory – the loud burst of energy that shook even the thickest walls of the magic barrier surrounding him.

The last he saw of her was the look of confusion that took her features. He was sure it mirrored his own.

* * *

Jane leaned her head back against the unforgiving wall.

Everything hurt. Her brain was throbbing as the unrelenting energy – the _Aether_, Odin had called it – coursed through her veins. Each beat of her heart sent another wave of fire searing down her limbs.

What hurt the most was that Thor had brought her to Asgard to save her... but didn't. He had watched on as his father ordered her be taken prisoner. She'd seen the conflict upon Thor's brow as the guards charged her.

She hadn't had time to see much else.

She remembered the cool of the metal beneath her. The boil of energy that rose goosebumps along her skin. The explosion.

She had blown up in their faces – literally – before passing out upon the healer's table. The last thing she'd felt was her hand slipping out of his.

Jane couldn't help but feel angry at herself. Discovering a worm hole to another world was_ incredible_. She remembered the way the red liquid danced and curved through the cracks in the rock that held it – or hovered around it really... Of course she would have to explore it further. But did she really have to go and touch it?

She had always known her obsession with every single anomaly that came to light would be her downfall. She just never imagined she'd fall so hard.

She sat up in an attempt to dull the nauseous feeling that turned in her empty stomach. Something was very wrong with her and she knew it. She blinked her eyes open and stilled.

A man sat opposite her. His clothing caught her attention first. Emerald tunic and dark leather contrasting harshly against the stone white wall he rested against. He seemed at ease. His hands resting, intertwined in his lap. Too at ease for her liking. The bright white light danced over his slick raven hair, glowing in the glower of his eyes. She recognized him instantly.

Jane gaped back at him.

"You… you're…"

"What brings you to Asgard, _Jane Foster_," his low voice vibrated in the air around them, mocking her with her own title.

She blinked twice, unnerved by his knowledge of her. She had witnessed him terrorize an entire city. Watched on helplessly from the safe end of a television screen as this man and his army of aliens took the lives of hundreds of innocent people – leaving streets in flame and skyscrapers toppled in his wake.

She'd heard of him before then, too. _Loki_ - the reason Thor had to leave her those two long years ago. The reason she had cried herself to sleep for more nights than she cared to remember in his absence. The reason she lost her beloved job – Erik – her entire world…

She had seen _them _join forces to stop him in New York. She had seen Thor return.

But when had Loki seen her?

"How do you know who I am?" her brow furrowed as a fierce curiosity masked the pang of pain that came with the memory.

"I know much more than just that," he returned, unmoving. His impatience showing only in the darkening of his eyes. "Which leads me to wonder what _you_ possibly could have done to find yourself here… Unless my brother has grown tired of his plaything."

Her fingernails pressed into her palms. She bit the inside of her lip. Hard.

"What brought _you_ to Earth, Loki?" Her voice stayed steady, his name echoing hollowly through the enclosed space. Nerves and heat sizzled and snapped beneath her skin – whether it was from his presence or the Aether she couldn't be sure.

The right corner of his lip turned up. Just barely.

"You know who I am, yet you continue to question me," his right brow lifted slightly, "Well that clears up why the guards feared you at least," a hint of arrogance lilted his rich accent. He paused for a beat. "Answer the question."

With his order, Jane's eyes left his for the first time, glancing down over herself before re-finding him.

"If you hurt me, Thor will come for you." Her quiet voice stayed level – a believed promise. She almost instantly regretted it. A threat – _really, Jane_?

His controlled gaze held a chilling passivity, turning to find the glass wall of her cell.

"Oh, I highly doubt that" he blinked once, slowly, at his reflection, "My brother wastes no time on those he's deemed unfit for his presence – and here you are," his jaw clenched and he paused a moment to reclaim his composure. Only when he had did he speak again. "And from what I saw in your captors' eyes, I can only assume a rescuer would be rendered unnecessary."

He turned his attention back over to her and she saw a flash of emerald glint between the thin slits of his eyelids.

"So tell me, what brings you to Asgard, Jane?" He repeated, tone as cold as the walls around them.

It chilled her to the bone.

A deafening silence tainted the air.

She opened her mouth to speak.

But the world went white.

The sound of glass exploding echoed throughout the prison and she flinched instinctively, her eyes squeezing shut, her hands shooting up to protect her head.

Chaos took place just beyond the clear wall of her cell.

Fires raged.

Masked men – no_, _masked_ creatures_– moved swiftly past her cell firing strange weapons and throwing golden spheres just farther down the hall than she could see. The bottomless, hollow eyes of their masks found her every so often as they passed and she pushed herself to the far back corner – as far from them as possible. With every shattering explosion, their numbers rose.

She looked back to where he had been sitting.

And found she was alone.

* * *

It instantly clicked into a much too fortunate, staggering epiphany. The Dark Elves weren't even supposed to exist – much less be tearing down the walls of a supposedly impenetrable fortress. All had believed them to be extinct. Odin's father being the responsible party. Slaying an entire race, destroying their power source, and returning home, a decorated war hero.

Those bedtime stories had stuck with him through the years. His mother had read to them each night. Tales of the evil Dark Elves and the mighty Bor.

He had even tried to be the hero once – _twice_. But the only welcome home party he received was a set of tight shackles and a torturous visit from his mother. He was left with nothing but her deceit.

But she had been wrong. They all were.

He pulled his projected figure from Jane's cell and smoothly rose to stand in his own.

He made his way to the glass, pressing his hand, fingers spread flat against it, leaning as close to the barrier as he could to take in as much of the commotion as possible.

A gangly, dark aircraft had entirely destroyed the first few rows of the prison, toppling the supporting columns, the lifeless bodies of washed-up inmates and a pair of insufferable guards crushed beneath. Asguardian soldiers poured through the prison door but found themselves in a murky ocean of vicious enemies. Not enough could make it through at one time to even damper the Dark Elves in number. And so they were slaughtered like sheep among wolves.

Loki's brow lifted at the sight.

The masked soldiers had weapons he had never seen before. And he'd seen his fair share.

Each fascinated him. But one stood out amongst the rest.

He watched intently as one of the intruders grabbed for a red orb at his side. He was bigger than the others – broader in the shoulders and, when he ripped his mask from his face, much more ghastly. He squeezed the orb tight in his fist and Loki's eyes followed the fragments of dust and orange embers as they languidly fell from between the creature's fingers to the stained stone floor.

A beast tore its way from his bones. Gashes ripped in flesh. Curling flame rose from between each crevice, lined by solid dark obsidian as the demon continued to burn and rise to a towering height.

Loki had to tilt his head up slightly to meet his eyes.

It spotted him.

The monster took one step in his direction – then another.

It came to a halt just inches from the steps of his cell. Loki's hand slowly dropped away from the glass. He remained unmoving otherwise.

They stared down one other. Loki's eyes tested his. Dared him.

The creature grunted, then turned away. Toward the next cell.

Jane's.

"I know what it is that you seek," the words passed his lips in practiced promise, stopping the beast in its tracks. "And I will take you to it, should you be so kind as to provide me the means."

He barely had enough time to take a step back from the wall of glass before it shattered into a billion twinkling facets.

* * *

To absolutely be continued...

Please let me know what you think!

_**Epigram:** Beast and The Harlot - Avenged Sevenfold _


	2. Blame and Bloodshed

**A/N:  
**Your reaction to this story was beyond humbling.  
I am simply blown away.  
This chapter goes out to every single one of you who took the time to read the first.  
You are the reason for this quick update and my undying love.

* * *

~  
_Nothing hurts my world  
__just effects the ones around me  
__When sin's deep in my blood  
__you'll be the one to fall  
~_

* * *

She watched but struggled with believing.

Men torn to pieces before her eyes, beaten with blunt force, and some even disappearing altogether – their bodies snapping and contorting to fit through much too small portals in midair.

She wanted nothing more than to look away, but found she couldn't.

Another explosion shook the room violently.

It rang through her ears, much louder than the others - and _much_ too close.

And then she saw him.

He was free.

Loki stood on the top stair of his cell, his eyes running slowly over every inch of the turmoil. The fires danced in them, washing his stark features in an orange glow. It did nothing to soften them.

He almost looked amused by the sight. Liberated.

And though he held the most human resemblance of the group, he was somehow the most frightening.

He stood at ease among enemies, only his jaw tightening, his calculating gaze tensing for a beat - then relaxing. Mid-motion, his eyes cleared as he turned to speak up to a flaming monster.

Jane hadn't even noticed it past him until then.

Dark smoke plumed from all around them, thickening the air. The lights of her cell casted a bright glare on the window against the blackness. She shifted herself closer, trying to make out what was happening.

The monster snarled, his top lip rising to reveal sharp, vicious yellowing teeth.

Jane froze, waiting for the worst.

But neither set of eyes turned to find her.

Loki held his left hand before him, palm out. A look of reasoning arched his brow, adding an aristocratic air to his features. His eye lids scrunched slightly with his final words. And he waited.

The beast studied him for a grueling moment – then grunted a nod.

Loki gestured for him to follow, the thickness of smoke and fire in the air causing them to fade more and more from her view with every step they took.

One pace.

Two.

On their third, she watched as the mammoth beast stumbled, his large mass twisting sideways violently in the air before crashing hard to the ground.

At the same time, Mjölnir ricocheted against the upper corner of her cell and Jane watched the thick glass ripple like a rock dropped into still waters. The force of the blow sent a huge crack splintering along the glass, nearly reaching the ground, smaller webs branching off in every direction. The barrier still stood strong.

She followed the direction the hammer had traveled back to and spotted Thor rushing through the entryway.

She watched as he twisted and molded into the battle so easily – naturally, only spotting glimpses of a red cape and glistening armor as the commotion and smoke swiftly swallowed him whole.

Lightening flashed bright every few seconds, cutting through the smoke like storm clouds, sending cracks of energy through the air. The small hairs on her arms and the back of her neck rose to attention.

The enemies began to retreat but Thor pursued them viciously.

Something was wrong. She saw it in the way he continued to smash into them well after their deaths, swinging his hammer so ferociously around at anything within reach. Lighting curled from the flat surface of its end, twisting and rising like blue flame, exploding with each connection to flesh.

As they tried to clear from around him he would throw it into the crowd and call it back, over and over again, taking down each row of enemies in its path.

The clanging sound as it bounced from metal, to bone, to cement and back again brought Jane's hands up to cover her ears.

She cringed every time it made contact.

And before long, the room was cleared.

He quickly made his way to her, large paces rapidly closing the space between them. He carelessly dropped his hammer upon the stone floor before clearing the two steps up to her cell in one long final stride. He stopped just short of the glass.

"Are you alright?" His deep voice was even thicker than usual with concern – and something else she couldn't quite decipher.

She placed her hands to the ground at her sides to help herself to her feet. The motion made her dizzy. She reached out to lean against the wall for support as she stepped toward him.

"Yes I'm fine," Jane assured him with a nod of her head, before urgency made itself known. "What's going on – who were they…?" she paused for a long moment when Thor's gaze fell, a deep sadness dimming the blue of his eyes in a way she'd never seen before. Her heart ached at the sight. "What happened?" she asked carefully of him.

His eyes slid closed.

"The attackers were of Elfish race – an enemy we did not believe to still exist...They were just legends – stories."

"Myths," Jane whispered without fully meaning too, watching him struggle over the words. "So were you, once," she tried to sooth.

His eyes found hers and hardened.

"And look at what our existence has done to your world, Jane. We believed them to no longer be a threat and because if it, we were unprepared. Everything has been left in ruin." he stopped himself, pressing the knuckles of his fist against the glass as he glance over to Loki's destroyed cell. He took a labored breath and lowered his voice. "They came in search of the Aether."

Her eyes widened as his words struck her like lightening, their true meaning thrumming through her chest.

They had come for her.

Thor broke the stretching silence.

"For now you are safer in here than anywhere else," he spoke reluctantly. "I have to prepare the armies for when they return and…"

"I can help. You can't leave me in here," Jane's protest cut him off as she remembered the emotionless expressions upon the masked attackers. A chill crept down her spine. "Not alone... Not again." Her eyes bore into his.

His brow furrowed and pulled down at her plead.

"My father is enveloped in rage right now, Jane," he muttered softly. "Our protective barrier has been destroyed. Our armies' numbers are fleeting… Setting you free would mean signing your death sentence – in one way or another." His eyes grew heavier.

Her own held his firmly.

"And leaving me here isn't?"

His mouth opened to answer her just as something huge came crashing down over his head from above. The armor over Thor's knees scratched along the glass as he fell to them. His eyes rolled upward, as his massive girth crashed sideways to the ground.

Jane pulled sharply back from the wall, her hand raising her mouth to stifle a startled yelp.

Loki stood just inches from the bottom step of her cell. His eyes rose from Thor's still form to focus so intently on her that she felt her heart freeze in her chest. Air left her lungs in a short gasp.

The huge chunk of column slid out of his path with a smooth wave of the back of his hand.

She took another step back.

He stalked forward with the grace of a predator, swiftly stopping to grab Thor's listless hand from its contorted position. He pressed it flat against the glass. The barrier disappeared in a bright flash, as if he'd simply turned off a giant television screen.

He stepped over Thor without sparing him a glance. Glared down at her and towered above her all at once.

His presence was stifling this time. Too potent. Real.

His lips half curved with cavalier spite.

"I'm afraid you fear the wrong fate."

* * *

Loki's fingers were wrapped firm around her upper arm, towing her behind him as she stumbled over the wreckage and piled ashes and other obstacles that she tried her best to not let her mind linger on for too long.

She had nearly fallen a few times due to his rushed pace, but his grip hadn't allowed it.

Her skin – the Aether simmered at the surface beneath his hold. The heat almost burned.

She coughed at the intruding smoke that filled her lungs, using her free hand to pull the collar of her shirt up over her mouth and nose. Her eyes stung and blurred.

They neared the far end of the corridor, taking a different way down than the guards had led her up.

Left instead of right.

The stairs opened up to another, larger corridor. They made their way to the end of it, her legs straining to keep up with him because at this rate, she was sure he'd actually drag her if she failed to do so.

He turned the corner before her, but quickly spun around to turn back.

Before she had the chance to follow, her shoulders were pressed hard against the wall. Her heart rate soared. The quick movement knocked the air from her chest. Loki's grip tightened fractionally, painfully around her forearm. His other hand clasped over her mouth, the pad of his thumb pressing down uncomfortably over her cheek bone, his long, cool fingers trapping her lips.

He stood inches from her, facing her – but not really. Her eyes leveled with his chest. The scent of leather tinged her nose with each shallow breath. She looked up to search his eyes for answers but found only shock as they fixed on something past her.

She stilled completely, her fingertips pressing back into the solid wall at her sides.

"Guards…"

A voice bellowed from the opposite end of the corridor. It was familiar, regal – but never so disheveled.

"G_uards_!"

Jane rolled her head toward the sound of half dozen Asgardian soldiers storming down the hall, spears and shields at the ready. The sound of clanking metal traveled through the stone and shook her bones.

Loki leaned forward a fraction in precaution as they advanced.

Her heart flittered. A warm cast of hope washed over her.

It burnt out with the gust of air as they passed without sparing either one of them a single glance, maneuvering just inches behind Loki's back as they made their way to where Odin's voice had come from.

His hands hummed lightly against her skin.

She looked back up at him.

A sheen of sweat coated his forehead. His mouth was a straight line, taught against the paleness of his skin – even paler than she remembered. His green eyes were glassy, lost. Bottomless.

She tried to turn her head to follow his gaze. His grip held like steel for a moment, then he allowed it, his hand over her mouth going slack. She adjusted just enough to peak one eye around the corner.

The room she looked into was huge, the high ceiling decorated in riches of all sorts.

Odin kneeled upon the ground, holding a draped woman in his arms. He was distraught. She was beautiful – high cheekbones, rich flawless skin, and long tendrils of curled, golden hair spilling across her shoulders and the floor around her. Blood did the same around her midsection.

Jane's stomach clenched painfully in the same spot. Her mouth fell open.

"It was supposed to be _her_."

Odin uttered the broken words to his guardsmen and Jane swore she broke along with them.

"…Malekith was searching for _her_. Bring the prisoner to me."

Emerald eyes flickered down to her just as she snapped back to face him. They pinned her harder than his grasp.

Odin's words awoke panic in her chest.

Loki somehow tensed further. His brow dipped in a swift thought. His jaw twitched.

Without warning, he ripped her away from the wall and down the corridor, leaving the heart-wrenching sight behind them.

* * *

He had been the civil one once. Young and foolish.

Even so much as to hold faith that one day, the idiotic oaf they called his brother would develop a sliver of compassion for those that he would never be fully capable of understanding.

During his adolescence, Thor had certainly put more bodies into the ground than Loki could ever dream of matching; never having to face a higher punishment than a stern talking to from Odin.

Though, when Loki thought about it, he would have chosen a thousand lashings over one of those anyway.

For a while there, he had almost believed that the _just_ and _mighty_ Thor had found his way. That after all his efforts, a mere mortal had been the one to lead his brother to repentance. The way he fought so hard against the Destroyer to protect his precious Midgard - to protect _her_.

But, oh how far too late she had been.

He'd watched on from the shadows just moments ago as the real Thor came out to play. The way his hammer smashed into the masks of the Dark Elves until metal and flesh became one. That was the brother_ he_ knew. The one he'd grown up with. Learned to love. So fiercely protective, yet so tragically misled.

He hadn't even had to distract the Dark Elves with a dead end lead. How easily they would have followed his lies. But Thor had done most of the work for him – for once.

But that didn't leave him any less at fault.

Thor had been the fool to bring the infected mortal to Asgard. He had led the enemies straight to them. To reap his trinket's plague among the realm.

To leave their mother lying in ruin.

And because of _her_ – because of the coveted power that coursed through this unfortunate mortal's veins – his last link to the realm he once believed to be his own was ripped so suddenly from him that it boiled down to the deepest cells of his icy blood.

His last rational thought had been to shield himself. Both from her scourge and the eyes of the guards.

Only one prisoner would be captured this day.

Somewhere in the haze, he'd heard the name of his mother's murderer.

_Malekith_.

And something within him snapped.

* * *

_**Epigram:** Unholy Confssions - Avenged Sevenfold_


	3. The Fallen

**A/N:**  
Okay, I'm obsessed... There, I said it. ;)  
Your reviews have been so sweet and if I haven't gotten to thank you personally yet, I soon will.  
Please let me know if you enjoy what you read!

* * *

~  
_H8 is the one for me_  
_It gives me all I need_  
_and helps me co-exist_  
_with the chill_  
~

* * *

She felt it even at her distance.

Stifling ire radiated off him in suffocating waves, leaving the air in the small space thick enough to slice.

He concentrated intently, shadowed lines faintly creasing his forehead. He murmured something under his breath as he pressed the buttons one after another in clearly practiced order, their blue lights turning his skin an icy grey as each section of the panel switched on beneath his touch.

He straightened, shifted a final lever, and the enemy ship rumbled to life.

Jane felt more alone at that moment than she ever had – even in Thor's extended absence. Even in her cell.

She braced herself internally, pushing the feeling as far away as possible. Now was no time to be distracted.

The air craft shook and trembled beneath her feet as it fought to free itself from the rubble. The cockpit tilted, causing her to throw a hand out to her side against the hard steel of the wall.

The motors whined in protest.

He shifted the lever further, and with one final shriek of metal tearing against rock, bright sunlight burst in through the front window, and the ship slipped free.

She stumbled sideways.

The sudden force of gravity pressed down against every inch of her, her vision flickering in and out as her head weighed heavy upon her shoulders. She could feel the blood pulsing through her ears. A knot twisted deep in her stomach.

Fear bit at her – but that wasn't the cause of her suffering. She'd faced much worse than this. It couldn't be motion sickness – no, she had always loved to be moving; flying high in the sky. Close to the stars.

She focused on breathing. Deep breaths, _deep breaths_. But even that grew difficult as the increasing speed pushed against her lungs like a boulder balanced upon her chest.

A groan rose in her throat.

She turned to rest her back against the flat surface of the wall and slowly slid down it, her knees pressing up against her and her head falling to rest between them.

"I can't…"

Jane's arms wrapped tight around her midsection as the pain there spread. She felt it ripping through her, stretching her veins as too much energy traveled along paths too small to house it.

A deep, scarlet glow inched down the visible skin of her arms. Her eyes caught it and she held them out in front of her. The Aether rose to the surface in in rosy splotches, languidly easing its way down the inside of her elbows – her forearms – her wrists, pulsing brighter with each beat of her racing heart.

She'd felt this before. When the police had tried to arrest her back in London… when the guards swarmed her.

It pooled just beneath the surface and she felt as if she were drowning in it. Pulling her deep down beneath a red sea as she fought with struggled gasps to break the surface.

"I can't breathe."

"Then do not waste your breath on words."

His low voice barely piercing the growl of the engines and the throbbing in her ears. She had not failed to miss the warning behind it.

Jane grit her teeth, refusing to look in his direction.

"What's happening to me?" The whispered question slipped from her as the glow reached her fingertips.

Though it had not been directed toward him, he answered her.

"The energy is attempting to protect itself… to defend its _host_ from harm," he sneered, "but it is just as trapped as you are."

And she felt it. Burning every nerve ending. Wanting free from her skin.

Her hands sizzled and vibrated before her eyes.

"What ever you did to me – you have to make it stop," she groaned, the room spinning in circles when she lifted her head to find him. "It's _burning_."

His jaw set as a sudden burst of ferocity tightened his eyes. They fell slowly to her.

"I owe you _nothing,_" the hissed words were laced in venom as they slithered from his teeth. "The Aether will stay right where it is until I can control it and rip it from you with my own bare hands. Until then, I order you silent unless you wish to rush things."

She could _feel_ the synapses in her head fire off with his threat – the heat of the bubbling Aether coursing through her brain – begging her to react.

And so she did.

She drew a deep breath. Forced another – another.

Her heart rate finally began to slow.

And she fought back against the instinctive _need_ to slap him across the mouth.

Seconds drew on into minutes as the space around her grew increasingly clearer to her eyes. She focused so much on calming herself that his words startled her.

"Grab the railing," he ordered her evenly.

Her brow furrowed.

"What?"

"Now."

She had just enough time to slide herself forward, away from the wall enough to take the steel bar into her grip. It was cool against her slick palms.

Without warning, the ship turned on its side and the space went dark.

Sparks flickered through her closed eyelids. Metal scraped against stone at slashing speeds. Her hands kept slipping no matter how tight she held on.

She could hear parts of the ship being ripped off – clanking and screaming as they twisted and snapped in two. Glass shattered and rained over her like piercing hail. Harsh wind slapped at her face, sending her hair furling out behind her. The floor fell out from under her feet. Her hands slipped free.

Then she was falling.

Down.

Down.

Down.

Her descent was slower than the ship's unearthly speed and the release of pressure was almost relieving. She felt light – weightless.

She took a deep breath, dragging it out until her lungs were filled completely, then inched her eyes open – to a sight she'd wanted to see again as soon as it had ended the first time.

Light refracted and shimmered along the walls of the conduit. Pure energy surrounded her, sending fragments of every color imaginable dancing across the painted sky. Her hand moved toward the wall in pure awe, her fingertips slicing through a liquid rainbow, the colors mixing together where her touch dragged them down.

And she fell and fell and fell.

A spray of mist seeped through her clothes as thick, dark clouds briefly surrounded her – then blurred past.

Something was different about this time than when she had traveled with Thor.

She wasn't slowing down.

A thrill of panic flipped her heart and she fought against the air to reposition herself. She clawed and twisted frantically, running her hands deep down into the flowing ramparts of energy, her feet dragging along behind her.

She turned, but did not slow.

She only had a second to glimpse the barren earth beneath her before she faced the sky once more.

A force struck her. Hard. Flipping her so fast that her hair stuck to her face with the sudden change of direction. At the same time, something slipped upwards under her left arm. A pressure pushed down diagonally across her chest.

She closed her eyes tight and for the first time in as long as she could recall, she prayed.

The sudden impact against the ground pulsated through every bone in her body. She skidded along the dirt, the rough terrain ripping at the heels of her hands as they dragged along at her sides.

Her breaths came in shallowly as her body slowed to a stop. Orange dust rose in a thick cloud. She choked and coughed with each frantic gulp of air.

It had hurt – but not as much as she thought it should.

A gust of wind swiftly swept the dust away and for a moment she stilled to catch her breath. Her eyes searched the sky. Her tongue dipped across her lip to taste the dirt there. It took her a moment to accept the fact that she still could.

The feeling was fleeting as the ground beneath her shifted – rose a fraction. Fell.

She flinched over onto her side, her shoulder falling to rest just under his outstretched arm.

She flinched again when she saw him.

He lay half cratered in the dirt, his right arm sprawled out to where her head would have landed – the other falling across him when she moved.

He gaped wide eyed at the sky above – giving it the same look she was sure she just had. His chest softly rose and fell, his battered green tunic lifting in the barest of movements each time he drew breath. He made no sound otherwise.

Blood inked his face in small, random scratches. Tiny shards of glass still remained in a few. The pale of his skin was bronzed, caked in rust colored earth.

Though, she could only truly focus on one thing. He had broken her fall.

"You…," she coughed to clear her scratchy throat, "are you alright?"

He blinked once as if snapped from a trance. His fingers closed to tight fists, relaxed, and then closed again.

He pressed his right hand and forearm flat against the ground in an attempt to sit up.

He struggled to complete the adjustment.

Jane almost moved to help him. _Almost_.

She scooted herself backward some instead.

A cringe crossed his face as his torso smoothly rose upward.

He leaned forward, hands resting up, open in his lap. A dark lock of hair swiped at his forehead in the gentle breeze as he took a while to appraise the surrounding landscape. She followed his gaze.

A few yards away rested the wreckage. The dark ship had been torn clear in half, one side facing sideways in the dirt; the other buried half into the ground as if someone had forcefully twisted it there.

Beyond it, the land was fruitless. Rust-tinged dirt stretched on all around them forever, rising to touch the skyline and dipping entirely out of view in various directions. It would have been called a desert on Earth, but something about it was off.

It molded with the blood in her palms, felt alive in her hands – the texture more liquid than solid. Palpable. Fascinating.

"Are you mad?"

His incredulous tone grabbed her attention. His eyes were already on her when she turned. His right eyebrow cocked.

She released the dampened grains into the wind.

"I feel like I should be asking you that question... Where in the world are we?"

He uncurled his torso to sit upright, sucking in a hiss of pain with the motion.

"If it's not one question, it's another," He spoke through clenched teeth as he adjusted up onto his knees. "You are insufferable."

"I have every right to be," she replied carefully, her vigor evaporating as he fluidly pushed off the ground to rise to his full height.

He took a labored step in her direction.

She twitched away.

He studied her, searching the plains of her face.

"Ah, but you're not entirely foolish, are you." His gaze rose beyond her. "There's still hope yet."

The edges of her fingernails found the cuts along her palms.

"If you wanted you hurt me you would've," she returned carefully, brushing some of the sand from her jeans.

He was silent for a long moment, unmoving.

She held strong.

"If I need to hurt you, I will," he acknowledged her with only his voice. The carelessness of his tone rendered her quiet. A threat laced in promise. "Now get up."

"Where are we going?"

"Back to the ship."

She shot him a mystified glance.

He missed it, his back already turned to her as he started for the mangled wreckage. On his third pace, she noticed he favored his right leg.

"What for? You've destroyed it."

He came to a short stop, his shoulders rising fractionally as they tensed. He did not turn.

"To search for provisions," he muttered, his tone thick with impatience. "I can't have my hostage going lifeless on me," he paused for a moment to send a passive glance over his right shoulder. "And you are bleeding… profusely."

She reached a dirt layered hand to the side of her head where it throbbed most. Her fingers came back drenched in coppery red. They matched her palms.

Without further protest, she slowly staggered to her feet and followed.

* * *

_**Epigraph:** Space Dementia - Muse_


	4. Into Darkness

**A/N:**  
So it's nearly 5 a.m. and I'm still up writing.  
Perfectly normal, right?  
*twitch,twitch*

* * *

_~  
If there's no one beside you_  
_when your soul embarks_  
_then I'll follow you into the dark  
~_

* * *

He had never particularly enjoyed falling.

The memory was one he had done all in his power to push away, locked somewhere deep and inescapable in the far wretches of his mind.

But as he crashed hard into the coarse dirt of Svartalfheim, his tenacious efforts had been proven useless.

He hadn't slipped from Thor's grasp – no, he'd _let go_ of it. Falling without purpose or destination. Not caring in the least, at the time, where he would land – or if he should ever land at all.

He'd never felt a chill so biting in his long life – the feeling of never being worthy; of never being able to rise to the standards set upon him. He would never truly be a prince – just a frost giant.

The all-consuming fear as the blackness swallowed him never seemed to fade. It rose a thousand prickling needled along his skin. Even now, it consumed him, filling him with a darkness that mingled easily with what had already been bred within him by unending failure. They kindled one another, thrived together, starting a fire so pure white and raging that it could only be sated with _more _power. _More_ fear – the two becoming the driving force behind his every action.

Glorious purpose, he'd come to call it. And still, he couldn't imagine a better title for such a coercion.

He had felt outcasted in Asgard from the beginning, the reason being just out of his reach until the man he had once called his _father _admitted that he was nothing more than another one of his stolen relics.

He had only ever felt truly accepted by his mother – his loving, protective Queen.

He only cared to remember time spent with her in his adolescence – reading to both him and Thor, warning them, and instructing them on how to be prepared leaders. It was because of her teachings that he knew on which realm he lay – only it had seemed much livelier in the compelling soprano of her voice.

She had been the_ only_ one to visit him in his prison cell – to speak of her unwavering love for him, even after all he'd done – all the destruction and mayhem caused by his hand. He had felt undeserving from the beginning but it never physically ached until that moment.

Until her last visit.

His mind would have surely tortured him with the repeated scene but a soft voice had drawn him from it.

Jane had asked him something, but he couldn't have heard her right.

* * *

Jane approached the ship carefully. Sharp shards of metal and glass scattered the ground around the opening, her boots making light crunching sounds as she strode over them with cautious steps.

He had already disappeared inside ahead of her.

She stopped just before she reached the opening.

Raw memories of her parent's accident came flooding over her in a way that nearly filled her eyes, holding her so suddenly in place that she felt like she'd been placed back behind the glass of her cell.

The faces of the policemen that showed up at her door with the horrible news flashed through her mind; the pictures in the newspapers of what was left of the family car – crushed and scorched black on the roadside; their funeral – her trembling fingers placing a single flower over the tops of two empty graves.

She had been young back then but she remembered each detail. Even the ones she wished she could forget.

His voice reached her before he did.

"There's nothing of use to you in…" he stepped into view, hesitating when he spotted her, "here."

She quickly swiped at her eyes with the back of her hand.

His gaze grew intensely curious on hers. He bent down to place a hand against the bottom edge of the entrance, leaping down from the ship in one smooth movement. Her gaze fell to watch his black boots as he closed the space between them in three even strides. She slid her eyes closed and fought against the nagging instinct to back away.

"Your wounds…"

She tensed at the strange awe in his voice. His eyes searched her forehead like the lines of a book.

The pain she had expected came more from the cut itself than his touch, a single finger lightly shifting over the bloodied strands of hair that clung to her cuts.

"They are healing."

Her eyes shot open and she reached up to feel for herself. The sudden pressure behind her own touch still caused her to wince but she could easily feel that the deep cut was already closed over, tough skin taking the place of a raw slit.

She held out her hands between them to see the same along her palms. Blood still stained them but the cuts just beneath glowed red, the ones higher along her wrists taking the form of day old scars.

Her wide eyes flickered to him then back down, searching her hands in astonishment.

"This is amazing," she admitted distractedly, watching as the glow dulled to a soft pink. "Imagine what the world could do with this kind of energy... It could save lives."

He scoffed, his admonishing eyes gleaming.

"Your hope gives away your age, young Jane," he spoke down to her. "I've seen energy like this before. I've seen it used to destroy entire realms… ripping the very life from the core of each unfortunate soul and_ feeding_ upon it, as is its sole purpose," he popped the 'p's to drive in just exactly how wrong she was. "It garnishes the title _Dark_ Matter for very good reason."

She set her jaw and met his gaze.

"It doesn't seem so dark to me," she replied coolly, holding her palm out to face him. "I suppose purposes can change when in the right hands."

His eyes tightened so slightly that she would have missed it had he not been so close.

"Well with you being so righteous, I can only assume that never in your life have you wielded one of these."

The finely decorated hilt of a glistening dagger hovered a mere centimeter above her outstretch hand, his own balancing the blade between long fingers.

It had shown up so fast that she wondered if he'd been holding it the entire time.

"No. But I can take care of myself if that's what you're asking," she wrapped her hand firm around the handle. "I've had to for most of my life."

He scoffed at her again as he released it over to her.

"You've barely lived. Now come at me."

Her brow pulled together.

"What?"

"Support your claim," he took a step back from her, spreading his arms out to his sides in show. "I am defenseless to your_ many_ years of training." His eyes danced with harsh amusement.

It was enough to fuel her.

She lunged forward, driving the knife deep into the center of his chest.

His mocking smile was all teeth.

"Wrong one."

It was his voice – but layered, coming from somewhere behind her.

She turned around to face three of them, each of their right eyebrows cocked at her as they waited for her reaction to the display.

Frustration knitted her brow further.

"Your enemies here will try to deceive you," they spoke in unison. "This world is riddled with dark magic – was created by it…"

She lunged again before they could finish, nearly stumbling forward as the projected Loki she targeted disintegrated into dust around the dagger's blade.

"...And the weak of mind will easily be overtaken."

They surrounded her now. At least eight of them circled around her, though forced concentration wouldn't allow her to properly count.

They were slightly crouched in waiting – wound up tight for the attack. Each of their eyes followed her every small movement.

She found her bearings and straightened, turning slowly to take her time studying each one. They were identical, each of them displaying the same scratches and dirt smudges along their faces, the same gleam in their eyes, and arrogance upon their lips.

She shook her loaded hand. One of them blinked – the others lagged behind him – and she lunged.

Just as the tip of the blade pierced the fabric of his tunic, his hand snapped up to restrain her wrist.

Even in her position, she couldn't help the pride that lifted her lips.

"I would have gotten you," she spoke aloud. She found she simply had to.

"How?" He asked, genuine curiosity and utter disappointment lilting his features.

"You flinched," she shrugged, masking bubbling self-satisfaction.

He took a full step back from her before freeing her hand.

His eyes considered her for a long moment.

"I'll have to keep that in mind."

* * *

She had already decided she didn't like this realm. The dark clouds above stayed so thick that she couldn't tell if it were night or day.

The wind whipped around them, pelting sand into her eyes every so often, no matter how much she squinted or covered them with her hand.

He walked ahead of her, so much so that every gust of tainted wind would hide him completely from her view.

She would quicken her pace each time, trudging just fast enough through the thick sand to make out his dark silhouette in the distance.

On the fourth time, she'd lost him completely, turning her attention to her feet for just a second and rising to find a wall of rust. Her right hand reached down to rest on the dagger's hilt at her side as she moved just a little faster. She opened her eyes as wide as she could, searching the shifting winds.

Only when she spotted him did she release it.

He stood still, half facing her direction. Agitation strained the plains of his face.

When she neared him, he beckoned her with his hand.

She passed him and he fell in to stride just off her left flank.

They walked like that for a long while. Her ears trained in on his footsteps behind her. The pelting sand was relentless. She placed a hand over her mouth so she could take a breath without the heavy taste of mud coating her tongue.

She stopped.

"Can I at least know where we're going?"

He didn't.

"To find shelter," he spoke flatly as he passed her. "Unless you wish to spend the night in open Svartalfheim. If so, you will need much more than that measly dagger."

Her nose wrinkled at his back as she moved to catch up.

"Svartal what?"

"Realm of the Dark Matter."

She stopped again. A sudden fear fluttered deep within her belly. She had missed it the first time he'd mentioned it, but now she remembered every detail of the Dark Elves with startling clarity – the way their guns fired pure, black energy – the energy that flowed through her veins. The vicious obsidian beast… darkness personified.

"You mean realm of the Dark _Elves_… you're taking me to them…" She heard the angst in her own voice.

He must have too, as he drew to a halt a few yards away.

"Your manner of observation is as profound as it is perilous," his resonant voice pierced the wind as he called back to her over his shoulder. "You can either continue to follow or perish where you stand. Either way, I will not be stopping again."

He proceeded to keep his word as soon as he'd finished speaking them.

They stilled her just long enough for dirt to cover her boots up to her ankles.

And for hours, she trudged through the sand behind him.

By the time Jane saw it, her eyes had become so useless that she was convinced it was a mirage.

A fuzzy mountain of towering, jagged rock stretched high along the horizon; white blankets of snow capping each of its highest peaks along the cloud line.

Though the sight was an amazing one in such a place, her mind could only seem to process one thing.

Shelter.

He had pulled a significant distance ahead again but the idea of getting out of the damaging gusts easily livened her steps. She'd managed to catch up with him just as they neared the base of the range.

She stayed a few paces behind him as he started the incline, maneuvering smoothly over jagged rocks and strange angled slopes. He would glance back at her every so often.

She was not finding it to be so easy.

The ground would slip from beneath her feet in certain spots, the soft piles of sand perfectly matching the color of solid rock. She threw her hands out each time to stop herself from tumbling over, focusing so much on her steps that she'd nearly ran into his back.

She peered around his still form and into the gaping mouth of a dark cave. It was a beautiful sight to sore, sore eyes.

When she failed to move, he looked over at her.

"Now you lose your vigor?"

If her eyes had been in working order, they would have challenged him.

Instead she ducked around him, taking measured steps to cross the lip of the cave's mouth and enter the protection of darkness.

And he followed.

* * *

_**Epigraph:** I Will Follow You Into The Dark - Death Cab For Cutie _


	5. Night Fury

Your sweet/insightful/humbling reviews truly make this so much fun!

* * *

~  
_It's easy to hide  
__under a very black sky  
_~

* * *

The royalty of Asgard graced the round table.

Odin sat at its head, unspeakable burden worn outward upon his stern brow. His hands clutched the golden arms of the chair as if they were holding him in place.

Thor took the seat at his right, his head wound still swollen and bruised, but healing. The throbbing ache was a constant reminder that Jane had been taken. That his brother had whisked her away to who knows where with less than honorable intentions. He was tense, his huge fist tight around Mjölnir's handle across his lap.

Sif sat beyond him, her dark eyes wide in alert.

Volstagg claimed the chair across from Thor. His large fingers would fidget with a loose splinter on the table at random times, making up for the mead or edible objects that would normally fill them.

Fandral sat completely still beside him, his posture coiled tight like a spring ready to snap as he waited.

All eyes were on their king.

Thor had gone on many a raid with these faces he'd learned to call family, but never one so painfully close to home.

"I know why you've called us here father, but you must listen to me…"

"Silence," Odin's voice, deep with a rumbling finality that shook through each one of them, bounced from the high walls of the large chamber. "I have tried listening and it has proven to be a dire mistake. It is time now to act. The evils that have befallen our realm cannot go unpunished, no matter our feelings toward those who are at fault. We must find our attackers _and_ our prisoners and try them accordingly."

Lady Sif shifted in her seat, her eyes flickering down to the longsword at her side.

Fandral and Volstagg shared an unsure glance before turning their attention over to Thor.

Thor was persistent.

"The Dark Elves will meet their consequences. I will find them and deliver whatever punishment you see fit, I swear it... but you _must_ have mercy on Jane," he brought his fist up to rest on the tabletop. Mjölnir glistened in the natural light from the high windows. "Loki must have heard us speak in the prison. He knows of her power. Who knows what he will do with it... We've seen what lengths he's gone to in the past."

Odin's features went livid. His good eye squinted.

"Tell me son, how is it that Loki escaped imprisonment?" The loaded question tainted the pregnant pause. "I will take no pity on your mortal after she has brought the very same suffering upon us as Loki delivered to Midgard. Wars will rise at her doing. _More_ lives will be lost…"

"I am the reason she came here, Father…" Thor attempted to reason. "I will bring Loki back to serve his time but Jane is an innocent in all of this. She needs help – treatment – you said so yourself that without it, the Aether will be too much for her_._"

"And what leads you to believe that you are being held any less accountable?!" All at once, Odin crumbled in his seat, releasing a ragged breath. His hand rose to his chest as it shook with choked coughs. Thor half rose from his chair before the Allfather stopped him with a sharp gesture of his hand. "…I leave you with two options," his rage glowed only in the arctic blue of his iris, bringing him to the edge of his throne. His voice grew startlingly calm. "Either you bring _both_ of the prisoners back to Asgard to pay their dues... or you will take their place."

* * *

Jane listened to the soft padding of his footfalls echoing from a few feet behind her. Her left fingertips trailed lightly along the moist cave wall so that she wouldn't run smack into it.

The darkness grew impenetrable just yards from the entrance and she blinked her eyes in the sudden blackness. The strange scent of coppery moss tickled her nose and the dampened air was delicious in comparison to the arid air outside. She slid her tongue against the roof of her dry mouth.

"There's water here," she announced intently, listening to faint echo of her voice as it traveled impossibly far down the tight passageway. She slowed to a stop when it was the only sound she could hear. Her own heartbeat began to pound in her ears.

"Hello?"

Just as she turned around, a soft orange glow lit the tarnished walls of the cavern. It was much larger than she had expected. The light didn't quite reach the ceiling, leaving it sheathed in a layer of darkness, but the jagged walls towered high above her head. Their colors reminded her of old pennies, glistening copper in some places and dulled nearly to black in others.

Loki crouched low beside the fire, tending to the small licks of flame with his bare hands, his fingers disappearing from view as they moved to prod at the base. It danced and flickered upon the flat rock of the floor as if the cave itself was a candle and he had ignited its wick.

When the flame stilled, he pulled his hand away and glared down at it, its light curling in the black of his pupils.

"Stay quiet and be still."

Jane swallowed dryly and took a slow step toward him.

"But I need…"

Loki's hardened gaze snapped up from the fire to find her, his eyes holding a simmering blaze of their own.

She moved no further, instead going completely still for a moment before deciding to ease herself down onto the solid floor. The warmth of the fire just barely touched her at her distance, but the chill left her bones when his attention returned to it. The cool air felt good on her skin after spending a long day in the blistering sand anyway.

At least, that was what she told herself.

She folded her hair under the side of her head, doing what she could to form a makeshift pillow over the hard ground. It still smelled of the lingering smoke from the prison.

She settled, though her mind refused to.

It drifted to Thor.

She wondered if he was okay. He had to be.

He would come for her – she just knew it. She had to have faith. But she could only hope it would be in a much timelier manner than the first time he'd promised to do so.

Until then, she would have to remain calm, think straight, and maybe – just maybe, she would make it through this.

It's not like she hadn't been forced to run the gauntlet before. Though she had to admit that each time, the outcome seemed to grow just a little more terrifying.

While she feared the unknown, she had always been just as fascinated by it… the astrophysicist in her coming out she supposed.

And as the thought struck her, she found herself absently watching him.

Loki rose to his feet, the movement flashing a quick wince of pain across his flickering eyes.

It was the last she saw of them as he turned his back to her and took four measured paces to the cave opening, his form fading into a tall, lean shadow as he slipped from the light.

For a short while, he paced; back and forth across the entrance of the cave as if one wall were adamantly urging him back to the next.

Only when he was mid-turn could she make out his features; his brow pulled down tight over glassy, unfocused eyes, his lips arched into a sharp frown. Sometimes his jaw would be relaxed – others, it was clenched so tight that she could see the shadows dance over straining muscle.

It reminded her of the way he'd looked toward the listless woman in his father's arms... His mother...

His _mother_.

Her breath caught in her throat.

The forgotten figure suddenly came to a stop. His profile shifted.

Jane quickly shut her eyes.

For a moment, she swore she could _feel_ the heaviness of his gaze on her – studying her like a hunter masked within perfected camouflage would watch his potential kill.

It trickled away after a few dragging seconds and she slowly peeked an eye open.

Loki's back was to her again. He pressed his hand flat against the left wall, his silhouette stopped shifting, and for a long while he stared out across the barren landscape.

Jane looked past him and could just barely make out the distant skyline from where she lay. Everything was a deep grey beyond the cave. Dark clouds cast their shadow on the hilly ground, and the sand stirred softly beneath them.

His hand rising up to swipe at his face pulled her eyes back to him. The sporadic gusts of wind shifted the hair at his shoulders.

Jane's hand crept down to her side, her thumb sliding along the chilled steel of the dagger.

_Your enemies here will try to deceive you_. The words repeated in her head as if they'd been branded there.

He took a small step back, straightening to hold his left hand out before him. He curled his fingers into a fist once – twice… She could swear it was trembling.

He took a breath and relaxed his hand.

Jane's eyes widened at the small sparks of blue that began to sizzle and crack from his fingertips.

Her own wrapped firmly around the grooved hilt. The Aether bubbled warmly in her fast pulsing blood.

Her eyes followed him as he reached up to touch along the edge of the rock, tracing the entire cave opening in three sideways steps. When he returned to complete the jagged circle, the view beyond it went fuzzy for a moment, turned a deep sparkling blue, and then cleared as if nothing had ever obstructed it.

He tested it, his hand moving through it as easily as it would air. Beyond the clear wall, the sparks lit his fingertips again and when he tried to pull his hand back, it met the barrier and stuck there.

A soft sound of content came from him as his hand returned to the shadows.

He moved to his original position, resting his left shoulder against the cave wall. His form went as still as the stone itself.

Jane watched until her eyes grew heavy, the two dark shapes slowly molding together to become one.

She fell asleep like that; her eyes on his back, her fingers resting outstretched along the flat side of the blade, and her mind trying to sort out just exactly why she hadn't used it.

* * *

Sif had been the last to leave them, a touch placed upon Thor's forearm and a firm-eyed nod saying all the words and warnings she wouldn't voice in Odin's presence.

Thor stood alone under his father's watchful gaze as the other warriors made their way to the artillery in preparation for his orders.

"I _beg_ you, reconsider," Thor's voice rumbled low in plead.

"A future king does not beg," the Allfather spoke flatly back at him. "What is done, is done. Your visit to Midgard has made you soft, my son, and because your mother is no longer here to show you the error of your ways, I will see to it myself."

Thor's skin bristled.

"If this is what it takes to claim the throne then I want nothing to do with it!" he roared, taking a gaping step toward where his father sat. "Mother would have_ never_ allowed this! She had her tricks but she still had her heart!"

"And mine!" Odin's voice broke over the words. He paused, taking a drawn breath to calm himself. "But she has been taken from me… from us… and do you know why, boy?" His tone marked the title a curse. "Because Malekith sought the Aether from your mortal's blood. You've led them straight to us and look at how many lives it's cost! Have you yet laid eyes upon the destruction beyond the castle?!"

Thor's brow fell into a deep frown. "Her name is Jane," his voice softened. "And she _did not_ ask for this. Malekith will pay for what he's done, but I will not bring her back here for further torment."

Odin slumped in his chair.

"I'd be surprised if there is any of her left to be brought back," he mused darkly.

Thor's eyes lost their life.

"Loki will not hurt her," he spoke in quiet, hopeful promise, his gaze turning down to search the floor. "His quest for revenge is not against me..."

"He still lives_ only_ because of your mother's incessant compassion toward him. I, however, have learned from my mistakes." Thor's eyes snapped up to meet Odin's just as his voice rose to reach the guards beyond the doors. "Give the command to end this war quickly… by _any_ means necessary."

* * *

_**Epigraph:** Under A Very Black Sky - Sick Puppies_


	6. Fortitude

~  
_No longer the lost_  
_no longer the same_  
_and I can see you _  
_starting to break_  
_I'll keep you alive_  
_if you show me the way_  
~

* * *

Grief weighed heavy on his chest in a way he was no longer used to. He had learned not to let such an emotion burden him for this very reason. It required too much. More than he had left to give.

His mind flashed to Thor no matter how hard he fought against it.

His frustrating regard for the insolent fool had played a part in ruining his plans back on Midgard. He'd hesitated, plunging the small dagger between the thin scales of armor over his ribs instead of up under the thick plate over his chest. He easily could have done it – his hands held enough skill to quickly pierce vital organs. His magic was strong enough to finish the job.

One tiny shift upward and slightly to the left.

But his reflex was not to take his brother's life.

It never was.

So Thor lived. And with his aid, _they_ had won the battle for Earth.

His jaw clenched painfully tight as he paced along the lip of the cave.

The disaster was still a fresh wound.

It had not been his idea to claim Midgard – no he had been a mere tool…He'd known that from the beginning. But if he had just successfully completed the task he'd been given, none of this would be happening. He would have been a _ruler_. His mother would be smiling down upon his achievements. And he certainly would not be trapped in this lowly cave in the middle of nowhere with more on his plate than he knew what to do with.

He'd never felt so disoriented in his long life.

A soft sound jolted him from his thoughts and he flinched to find it.

Jane's breathing had hitched.

She lay still, well beyond the fire, her small form casting a wavering shadow along the cave wall at her back.

The light just barely illuminated her peaceful face.

She had fallen asleep.

A burst of frustration weaved through the blanket of shame that lay over him.

Instead of trying to escape, or protest, or quiver with fear in his presence – she'd sprawled across the ground and drifted off.

He must really be losing his touch.

Loki nearly grew envious at her ease of such a convention, not being able to even come close to such reprieve in as long as he could remember. She'd completed the task as if her own bed lay beneath her.

Days – weeks – months, blurred together so easily when time didn't matter…

And truthfully, nothing did anymore.

He turned back to face the wasteland, placing his left hand against the cave wall when he so suddenly felt like he needed it for support. Something sharp twisted in his gut, nearly causing him to curl forward in agony. The landscaped blurred before his eyes. He grit his teeth at the _burning_, unshed tears and furiously dashed them away with the side of his hand.

This was _pathetic_. He was stronger than this.

Loki held his hand out before him, flexing and relaxing his fingers as he called to his magic, the moisture at his fingertips boiling blue in the hottest of conjured flame.

He sealed off the cave to prevent any unwanted magic from entering.

Then he tested it.

Normally he wouldn't have to, but he'd been struggling to hold faith in even his most perfected skills since she had nearly run a dagger through his chest. The nights on Svartalfheim held their tricks and he would not be blindsided. His mother had made sure of that years ago with her many frivolous lessons.

His _mother_…

Every time his thoughts turned to her, he could swear flesh tore away from muscle. He pressed his entire weight against stone, wrapped his right arm tight around his midsection, and fought back against the gnawing ache there.

He clenched down upon the unhindered grief within him, molding it and shaping it into a feeling he'd grown to recognize as well as his own reflection. It seeped through him like acid, the renewed surges of physical pain relieving him from the emotions that put it to shame.

Malekith had ended her life as if she were nothing – in the coldest of blood.

And his own demise would be just as chilling.

* * *

_Jane_

Consciousness came to her slowly, her mind struggling to become alert at the familiar sound of her name, though the accent that wrapped around it was still so strange.

_Wake up _

The dirt floor was scratchy against her cheek. Her left hip ached where it had pressed against the ground all night. Her eyes blinked open to find that she hadn't moved – which was strange because since she'd come to learn that the human race was not alone in the universe, she hadn't been able to manage a single good night's sleep.

A tall shape shifted in natural light. His shadow casted over her. She squinted up at him.

Loki still stood where she had last saw him, though it was much brighter outside beyond him. It left him featureless.

"We get water now or not at all."

Jane rubbed at her eyes, adjusted off of her sore hip, and rose slowly to sit up. Her weary mind tossed his words around for a moment – then sharpened.

"Okay," she agreed half-awake, pushing off the ground to stand. She brushed the dirt from her palms and realized that the pain there was gone completely.

He stepped out before her into the brightness of the morning. She blinked her eyes at the light and noticed that all signs of damage were clear of his face too, the dirt and blood absent and wounds healed, leaving nothing but smooth, pale skin behind.

He turned and she trailed along behind him for a while, watching as the dark train of his leather long coat would drag the ground each time he stepped higher along the rocky terrain of the winding trail.

The clouds above blanketed the sky in all directions but they were not as thick as before, allowing the early morning sunlight to penetrate and brightly illuminate the space around them.

Jane took a moment to appreciate the simple fact that she could see where she was going.

"It's much nicer out today," she voiced the observation as she turned to look out over the gently sloping sand beneath them. It laid still. "I bet we can see where we crashed from up here."

"Or we could keep moving," Loki's aggravated voice came from a short distance behind her. She turned back to find that he'd stopped and faced her direction, his eyes searching the horizon. "There's not much time left before the fresh snow melts and you're left with mud to quench your thirst."

The thought of cold slush melting on her tongue was enough to make her swallow dryly.

"How did you know about these mountains?" She asked, thinking back to how he'd found them with such ease. "…And the caves?"

He moved to continue walking and she fell in stride a few paces behind him.

"Mountains always mean refuge, young Jane," he tisked her as if he were reprimanding a child. "What skills are they teaching your kind on Midgard exactly?"

She scowled at his back.

"That's not what I meant and you know it."

He glanced over his shoulder at her tone. His eyes were firm, but there was amusement there too.

It irritated her even more.

"I _meant_, how did you know where to go? Have you been here before?"

She could just barely hear the sigh come from him at his distance.

"Not exactly," he spoke carefully. Jane moved closer. "But legend has it that these very mountains were the reason Asgard won the battle here long before our universe knew peace."

"The _battle_?" before Jane realized it, she was walking at his side. "What battle?"

Her overt interest pulled his attention toward her. His right brow rose – then fell.

"Let's just say that Malekith's current sins are not nearly his worst."

The name jolted her. It echoed through her mind in Odin's dejected voice.

Loki's eyes tightened, glistening with an unsettling amount of emotions. They turned to the ground ahead of him for a stretch of time and she thought he would say no more.

He surprised her.

"Eons ago, he obtained a weapon that would bring the entire universe back into darkness… return it to its state before creation, ending all forms of existence. The soldiers of Asgard journeyed here to see that Malekith would not succeed, but they were faced with an enemy so foreign that they very nearly lost to its overbearing power. There was a variety of dark magic here that no other realm had ever seen before…," Loki stopped to face her. She shadowed him. "And the Dark Elves were _created _by it… thrived on it… so much so that the Asgardian soldiers were driven deep into the shelter of the caves." His eyes left hers to look past her and she felt the relieving absence of their weight. "The protection and sustenance they provided won Asgard the war... Without it, Svartalfheim would have swallowed them whole."

Jane took a moment to breathe and process. Breathe and process.

"So that's why they were thought to be extinct..."

Loki nodded once at her.

She stifled a cringe, recalling the way the Dark Elves had mercilessly tore into the Asgardian defense.

"But why did Malekith wait till now to strike for revenge… _Eons_ later?"

When his eyes fell to hers, they held a malicious gleam.

"Were my brother's words to you not clear enough? He wants his weapon back."

Jane's brow tensed – relaxed – lifted – then, it struck her all at once like a physical blow to the sternum.

"You heard everything…"

The tightening of his lips before he turned to continue walking showed he'd found something amusing about her reaction.

She'd caught it.

"I knew they came for me…" she murmured, both Thor's and Odin's similar expressions flashing through her mind as they'd discovered it for themselves. "Even before Thor confirmed it. I can _feel_ how powerful the Aether is… but you're telling me that I hold enough energy to sustain an _entire world_…? And you _bring_ me here?!" Her voice rose to question his sanity. "If Malekith gets his hands on it, we're all as good as dead... and I don't see how that's the least bit funny."

She watched on firmly as the curve of his left jawline flexed.

"Judging by your actions as of late, you fail to see a lot of things."

She felt a biting chill that edged through her jacket and sharpened the air around her. Though this time, it was from the thin sheet of snow that crunched softly beneath their boots.

Jane only stared down at the blanket of white in a moment of deliberation, her tongue absently sliding back and forth along the inside of her parched lips. She steeled herself.

"Why _did _you bring me here? You've explained nothing…"

Loki's quick turn cut her off.

"Do you really expect me to reveal my plan to _you_? Just like that." He snapped his fingers in show as artificially bewildered eyes scalded her; questioned _her_ sanity. "Have you forgotten your place?"

She refused to meet them. She exhaled deliberately slow.

"No... I think you've forgotten yours. You are a prince, Loki," her eyes finally lifted with his name and the absent expression he wore nearly caused the words to tumble from her lips. "You're used to being told what to do and exactly which way to go about it… But this time you're on your own… Every decision you make from here on out is entirely yours and each one could mean life or death," her eyes widened on his. "Not just for me, but for the _entire_ universe if what you say is true."

He was silent for a long moment and she held his gaze. He stood stark still, coiled like an agitated serpent, and she waited for him to strike – either with venomous words or the sharp bite of something unimaginably worse.

A rounded, steel canteen appeared in his right hand and he smoothly held it out to her.

She almost flinched.

"Jane Foster... are you attempting to lecture me?" His brow knotted and rose in a way that was almost comical though his voice remained deadly calm. "What, pray tell, leads you to believe that I care about the _fate_ of our universe?" He bit out the words.

His posture slackened fractionally and Jane remembered to breathe.

She took the container from him carefully, making sure her fingers didn't come into contact with his. The steel was oddly warm to the touch.

His question pulled images of him pacing the floor to the front of her thoughts – the lost look he'd worn so openly upon his face in the dark.

"I never said you did." She crouched to the ground, scooped some slush into her hand and cupped it into her mouth. She let the deliciously cold water coat her scratchy throat before she swallowed it. "I just don't believe you have much of a plan to reveal." She pushed snow into the opening of the canteen, smiling to herself when its lingering warmth melted the crystals into water as fast as she could fill it.

She rose to her feet when it was filled completely, screwing the cap on tight before meeting his eyes.

He watched her every move.

She gently sloshed the water around the canteen, holding it up between them by its base.

"But that's alright, because now we have some time… and we have the caves."

* * *

_**Epigraph:** Give Me A Sign - Breaking Benjamin_


	7. Just A Glimpse

**~  
A/N:**  
I hope you accept this chapter as a belated, but very happy Thanksgiving!  
I work in retail (sadly) so chapters may take a bit longer for me to put out during the holiday season.  
Just please know that it is in **no way** due to lack of interest.  
As always, I would love nothing more than to read your thoughts!

* * *

~  
_Circling your head_  
_contemplating everything you ever said_  
_Now I see the truth, I got a doubt_  
_a different motive in your eyes_  
_and now I'm out_  
~

* * *

It was hard to tell if it were night or day but all Jane wanted at that moment was to see the stars.

Anything she could recognize or comprehend or grasp on to would make do, really.

But instead, the sky only grew darker and darker and the world returned to an insipid, smothering grey.

She sat just outside the cave's edge, her legs crisscrossed in front of her, and gazed at the veiled sky just as she had done for what felt like an eternity, searching for a break in the clouds… a ray of sunlight… anything…

Back on Earth she could easily know exactly where she sat using only a single star and her cell phone. The twinkling night sky had grown to become a warm, familiar face; even long before she'd spent her nights searching the stars for Thor.

Here she was lost; trapped well beyond her captor's watchful eyes. She could feel them on her back every so often from somewhere deep within the cave.

Other than that, there were no signs of life. No illumination. No astronomical map above. Nothing.

London had nearly constantly bustled beneath over-casted skies, but even that had nothing on the clouds that blanketed Svartalfheim.

She closed her eyes. Bright red coated the inside of her eyelids. She almost felt a little less blinded.

A harsh wind stirred the loose ground at the base of the mountain, but at her height within the protective walls of rock she only felt a gentle breeze brush against her cheeks. She could hear the sizzling sound of sand pelting against stone below, leaving the air thick with dust. It bristled in her nose when she inhaled.

For a while she imagined herself back to New Mexico. She had always loved the warmth there; her small, rustic town, the rolling dessert and glowing sun.

Then the attack on New York happened. A wormhole to another world gaped open in the sky and fearsome aliens had flooded through it by the hundreds. Before she was even able to believe what she was seeing, S.H.I.E.L.D had given her a large, manila envelope and told her to follow the directions in it without hesitation.

Of course, she'd hesitated. Just long enough for them to allow her to take Darcy with her. Erik had been missing for months already and she would not be losing her assistant too.

She missed both of them so fiercely that it hurt.

Erik had been nothing short of a father to her since she'd lost her parents and his absence reopened the holes the incident had left within her. She could feel them growing a little sorer around the edges with each passing day.

She squeezed her eyes shut with just a little more force.

Darcy had grown from her insufferable intern into a daughter-like figure she couldn't imagine living without. Jane would have given anything to hear one of her sly comments or inappropriate remarks right then. She could only hope that at least some of the girl's downright fearlessness had rubbed off on her over time.

Her fingers rose to her lips as she remembered numerous instances where Darcy's off-hand commentary had left her bright red with embarrassment.

A small laugh escaped her, despite her efforts.

She felt his attention turn to her before his smooth command disturbed the silence.

"You should come inside."

Jane slid her eyes open, the memories fading as quickly as the serene blackness. She'd almost been able to entirely forget her current predicament and the unfavorable company she was forced to share it with.

She immediately felt more confined than she had with her eyes closed.

"I'd like to stay out here for a while longer," she spoke softly to the sky.

Jane heard his languid footsteps as he made his way to stand at the opposite end of the cave entrance. She watched from the corner of her eye as his gaze met hers above. The grayness washed over him, dulling his robes and claiming his drawn, pale features just as wholly as it claimed the land. All but his eyes, which captured the fading light as if they'd found the hidden stars.

Loki studied silently for a long moment before he spoke.

"It's certainly not much to look at," he decided lowly, his brow twisting in distaste.

She blinked a glance over at him.

"Habit I suppose," she half shrugged. "I've learned to read the sky like a book and I find its stories much more enticing than my own at the moment… even with the clouds."

His usual scoff sounded more like a choked chuckle.

"You've no idea."

Jane tossed his words around in her mind for a moment. They brought with them the poignant memories of everything he'd put her through; of Thor's first visit to Earth, the Destroyer nearly taking both of their lives; intermingling with scenes from New York, fires blazing and buildings raining glass upon the city streets as the death toll steadily rose at the bottom of the television screen. Erik. And then there was being trapped in a world that wanted to consume her for nothing more than the energy she unwillingly claimed.

All because of him.

She swallowed the bile that rose in her throat.

"Oh believe me, I do. Every time tragedy strikes I have to force myself to believe that it's as bad as it's going to get... but I am proved wrong. Every. Single. Time," her eyes widened on the clouds. "So I've been out here trying again. I mean, it can't get much worse than this, right…" her head shook gently in denial, "It can't."

She could just make out his movement from of the corner of her eye but she guessed he looked over at her.

For a long while all was silent.

"What you call tragedy can result in just as much good as harm."

The words were smooth as glass and cut just the same.

When she turned to find him, his eyes were already back on the sky.

"You really think that don't you?" She failed to hide the accusation in her tone. "You truly believe that there are no consequences to your actions… but there are. You do whatever you want not caring about what you level in your path. People have died…"

"Because of me?" He cut in, heat suddenly steaming hot beneath his words. "You may study the sky but you clearly know nothing of its true stories or the secrets that lie within the vast realms you call stars. Until you do, I suggest you hold your tongue because each word you speak shows just how ill-informed you mortals truly are."

She clenched her fists in her lap. A surge of curiosity crept over her, holding her pointed frustration just barely between her teeth.

"Then tell me."

"I've no reason to. But you should ask Thor sometime," his eyes tightened slightly with the name. "He obviously hasn't shared very much of his past with you."

Jane felt a familiar bubbling begin to warm her bones.

"He didn't have time to," she grit her teeth and simmered. "Why doesn't my Aether trick work when I want it to," she groaned, relaxing her fists to let her head rest in her hands.

She could _feel _his brow quirk over at her.

"Tricks are kind of my strong suit," he announced with an odd mixture of pride and dejection. "And every single one of them has a counter. I've simply locked it where it lies and I allow you to live because you keep it hidden from those who need not sense it yet."

"You destroy everything you touch."

Her head lifted and their eyes met.

His gaze was tilted sharply down at her, leaving deep purple shadows around screaming eyes. His lips were grey lines, cutting harshly across his locked jaw.

The sudden silence was deafening.

Jane's survival instincts automatically kicked in in the far reaches of her mind; the Aether boiled hot beneath her skin; and still, her eyes held his firmly for a beat – two... Then, they fell to her lap.

"Thor was right…" She whispered, before seeking the comfort of the sky. "I've spent most of my life searching for exactly what was out there… Trying to connect our world to whatever it was the universe had in store… but we weren't ready. I always knew I'd find something but I never once pictured it to be anything like this," she huffed at her own staggering realization. "Not even close. I expected creepy, big headed Martians with bulging eyes and glowing fingertips – not dueling gods with _severe_ family issues."

A small light of pride warmed her chest. She would have to remember to thank Darcy someday if she got the chance.

Before she could even enjoy the feeling, tension pulsated through her in deep, rolling waves electrocuting the crisp air and raising the hair at the back of her neck in a way that she had once believed only Thor's lightening could cause. It quickly stifled anything lively within her.

"Not yet."

The hissed words were his last and hung heavy in the night.

She heard the sharp rip of boot scraping rock as he turned to make his way beyond her, back into the cave.

Her nerves and the air thinned out just as quickly.

She filled her lungs with it and desperately continued her search.

* * *

Jane wasn't sure exactly when she'd fallen asleep, but the grey had given over to much-too-vivid dreams.

She dreamt of her parents; their yearly road trip to the mountains of California for the best possible view of the stars.

She could hear the soft tones of their voices coming from the front seats of the car, but no words. She was too excited; her small nose pressed up against the cool glass of the window, watching reverently as clustered buildings and webbed streets slowly spaced out and gave way to tall trees and dirt trails.

Only this time, their edges frayed.

The car jolted to a sudden stop and she was thrown into a flash of white.

Then she was falling.

Slicing violently through still air.

She landed hard, face down upon the unforgiving floor of her prison cell.

The collision reverberated through her ribs and she fought against the cold stone to catch her breath.

She spread her fingers flat against the shining white floor and inched herself up just enough to turn her head to the right. She clenched her teeth at the pain in her muscles.

The white light above was blinding but she could just make out a dark form inches beyond the glass.

She froze as her eyes traced the lines of his mask.

It was expressionless. Void of anything relatable – inhuman.

The eyes it bore were black, limitless, and they focused directly on her; claimed her – swallowed her whole.

Jane blinked to focus and reopened her eyes to another blinding wall of white.

She squeezed them shut.

It did nothing to dim the glaring brightness.

She blinked them open and realized why.

Through the slits of her eyes, she could see that the wasteland was illuminated in white all around her.

Her hand rose to shield her strained eyes.

The thick clouds above were veined by streaks of glistening silver, branching off and crossing unsystematically like a spider's web collapsing upon itself. At its center, a few miles from the mountain, a thick streak of glowing white struck the ground with a force that trembled through the solid rock beneath her.

It sent the rusted dust spiraling around its base in huge, radiant red cyclones.

She took a few seconds to decide if she was actually awake.

Only then did she realize what she was witnessing.

She rose to her feet without fully meaning to. Her hand fell to rest on a stout rock at her waist as she leaned forward to get a better view.

It was another conduit; a big one, cutting through the sky like a pure white ray of sunlight. And it had to be touching the ground somewhere near where they'd crashed.

It was no star, but it would do.

When her mind snapped fully awake, she took a quick look behind her.

The light brightened the inside of the cave, glimmering off of every inch of the copper walls it could reach.

The small fire still flickered sadly in the middle of the floor.

Otherwise, the space was empty.

It was all the assurance she needed.

Her heart flipped once in her chest, she pulled her jacket closed tight over it, and she fled toward the light.

* * *

_**Epigraph:** Headstrong - Trapt_


	8. Black

~  
**A/N:**  
I'm not going to lie, I dug in a bit further than usual to write this chapter.  
I'll just blame it on my love/hate relationship with this cold, dreary weather.  
A tear or two shed is well worth it so long as you enjoy.

* * *

~  
_If I cried me a river of all my confessions_  
_would I drown in my shallow regret_  
_As the walls are closing in_  
_and the colors fade to black_  
_And the night is falling fast and deep into the sea_  
_and in the darkness all that I can see_  
_the frightened and the weak_  
_are forced to cling to mistakes they know nothing of_  
_At mercy are the meek_  
~

* * *

Loki walked aimlessly amongst the shadows deep within the cave, watching from the amnesty of their quiet refuge as the clouds gave up on clutching so desperately to the light above and gave in with hopeless release to dusk.

He was almost appreciative when Jane had chose to stop at the entrance of the cave instead of following him inside. He wasn't sure how much longer he would be able to contain himself under such impudent scrutiny. And keeping her alive was key.

At least long enough for his plan to go smoothly.

He frowned down at the harsh contrast of dirt upon his dark boots.

Of course he had a plan.

How _dare _she question him.

To any extent.

Most would not have lived long enough to make the same mistake twice.

But she had said something else too.

Called him a title that'd turned his blood to lead.

She'd referred to him as a prince as plainly as if it were what she truly believed him to be.

The memory pulled a snarled smile of disbelief to his lips. This woman really was the embodiment of madness, wasn't she...

What had stopped him in his tracks mid-pace was that he'd almost wanted to believe her.

It was impossible for her to know just how right she'd been.

He had been told exactly where to stand at every ceremony, slowly being moved more and more often from Thor's right shoulder to the sideline. Guided and guarded from the sunlight to the shadows. Controlled and _threatened_. Instructed on exactly how he was expected to behave as a person of affluence; uptight and impossibly boring as compared to the nature Odin would declare as _childish_ and _unfit for nobility_.

The same nature the Chitauri had pandered to and bent to their will.

His true nature.

The Allfather's voice spitting venomous words of discouragement through Loki's brain curled his fingers into straining fists at his sides.

It was almost ironic that one so weak and unfit to rule would make such statements. He was honestly surprised the old rag had even re-awoken, much less reclaimed the throne. If only the people of Asgard knew he'd taken down their prided king with nothing more than a few painfully pointed words...

Jane had laughed.

The sound clashed against the barren land like metal upon the thinnest glass. Much too innocent for the impasse she found herself in and _much_ too foreign upon his heavy ears.

It was striking.

He cocked his head toward it.

She sat at peace, her back half-leaned against the edge of the cave wall, her brown hair twisting at her neck in the breeze, and her chin tilted up to the sky, just as it had been since their return.

He was constantly left puzzled by such a strange human.

She was brave, he would give her that, but the brashness with which she showed it rode so treacherously close to the border of foolishness that he was sure it would drive him just as mad as she was before this ended.

When he'd followed the sound to her side, she had continued to push him - dangerously close.

He'd had to tear himself away once more and fall back farther within the cave.

Who was this feeble girl to call out his flaws when she herself was so clearly broken. _Far_ beyond any known form of restoration. She showed it in such pitiful ways. The way she continually tried to reason with him instead of following through with his commands. How she still searched the sky for hope whilst she knowingly sat upon that land that fed on it... The fact that she still sat there in general, just beyond the cave wall and his sight.

He reemerged from the shadows when they quivered to find that that was no longer the case.

And _finally_, for the first time since their meeting, her actions made sense to him.

* * *

Jane had just made the descent to the mountains base when the conduit's light drew back up into the sky and disappeared from view.

She refused to look away from the spot in the sky where she last saw it, doing what she could to find her footing in the dark.

The rock turned to sand beneath her feet. She struggled to run as fast as she could, pulling the heels of her boots up from the clutches of greedy sand with each swift step.

Without the protection of the mountains the sands whipped at her, stinging the exposed skin on her face and her hands when they rose to protect it.

The dry, dusty air was sharp at the back of her throat.

Her heart drummed in her chest.

She slowed in precaution, using the side of her hands to wipe the sandy tears from the corners of her eyes.

Jane took them off the spot in the sky for only a second... and lost it.

She turned frantically to see if the mountains were still at her back but was met with a blinding wall of wind that knocked into her with such unexpected force that she staggered sideways.

She pushed her boots against dirt and fought to stay on her feet as gust after gust closed in on her in blinding walls.

She pulled her shirt up over her nose and mouth, holding it there with one hand while clasping the other tightly over her eyes.

Sliding her first two fingers apart _just _enough to see through, she turned back to where she hoped she'd seen the last of the conduit and fought against the storm to make her way toward it.

Red outlined her vision. She could feel the Aether pushing her; making her fight for her own safety against the harsh elements.

It warmed the surface of her skin and she relished it, using the burning as the driving force behind each of her labored paces.

She immediately knew something was wrong when the smoldering sensation continued to grow.

It began low in her calf muscles, gnawing at the flesh there as if they'd been set ablaze. It rose up her legs, locking her knees into place so suddenly that she fell to them, each sinking into inch-deep craters in the loose sand.

A name flooded her thoughts and she screamed it as loud as her struggling lungs would allow.

"Thor!"

She felt it seeping up over each of her ribs, burning raw as a viper's poison as it slithered between her bones.

"Thor!... _Tho-_!"

It reached her heart, filling it so quickly and entirely that it took her breath away. The scarlet glow radiated straight through her thick brown jacket.

Jane could feel her heartbeat quicken in her chest to a painful rate.

She toppled forward onto her hands.

Her vision blurred to black.

And she felt every nerve in her body bared open to the blistering sand as the Aether exploded from her skin.

Consciousness returned to her in what felt like only a few seconds, but she awoke to find that the wind had stopped and the world around her stood deathly still.

She felt the weight of heavy clay resting over her, nearly burying her entirely. It matted thick over her back and hair. Her mouth was dry and gritty.

Her limbs felt numb and exhausted. Everything stung.

She tried to blink her eyes open, but with every attempt she could feel each individual grain of sand scraping beneath her eye lids. She kept them closed instead and resignedly let her cheek fall against the dirt with a soft exhale.

If Svartalfheim truly did want to consume her at that moment, she was almost positive she'd be okay with it. It almost seemed a better fate than the life that had devoured her already.

The universe had proven her wrong yet again and she wasn't sure just how much more she could bear.

Twin tears fell across the bridge of her nose and cheek and dripped to the dust on their own accord.

At first she blamed the dirt but raw emotion bit and refused to release her.

She hadn't allowed herself to cry for so long now that they came on strong and silent, one fresh tear after another, following uniformly along its sodden trail.

The moisture felt good in her dry eyes.

She burrowed her fingers a little deeper into the cool earth.

Maybe she could just disappear beneath the sand forever.

She had tried and tried again to continue living a normal life after her run in with the god that fell from the sky, but now she almost wished she would have just left him where she'd found him, sprawled across the desert of Puente Antiguo.

It would be only fair considering where she found herself now.

But that was just Svartalfheim talking; digging into her soul and tearing it apart just as Loki had warned her it would.

He had warned her of a lot of things, in his own way, now that she thought about it. The evils this realm had to offer, how to combat them, how to hide from them...

He'd saved her life.

If only she'd listened.

Just as he materialized into her thoughts, she blinked her watery eyes open to spot him materializing a few feet before her prone form.

Her breathing picked up though she was anything but surprised.

She knew her escape... if it could be called that... was a hopeless endeavor the moment she'd lost sight. And she _knew_ he was going to be seething without even having to look up to see the expression he wore.

She did anyway.

What she found staggered her.

It was not anger that weighted his brow, but something much different that the grainy tears in her eyes wouldn't allow her to clearly make out.

Instead of trying to decipher it, she slowly let her forehead fall against the dirt, doing what she could to hide her vulnerability from the eyes that scrutinized her so thoroughly.

She counted her shaky breaths as time ticked passed.

When his steps finally closed in on her, she tensed.

He shifted close by.

A cool finger curled around the base of her chin and smoothly lifted her gaze to meet his. She clenched her jaw at the sensation, the movement causing another pair of tears to drag slow, fresh streaks down her dirtied face.

She found him crouched inches in front of her, the wrist of his free hand resting idly over his bent knee.

His eyes searched every detail of her features, the jade of his irises transfixing on her so solidly that for a short-lived second, she searched too.

Jane watched his brow dip a fraction as he deliberated something for a exhausting moment. It relaxed when he must have found what he was looking for.

"You've given up."

The gentle declaration scorched her with its grave truth.

She could only imagine what he saw.

Her descending tears curved along her jaw line nearing his finger and he released her head, pulling his hand back to rest over his other knee.

"I'm sorry."

She could barely recognize her own vacant voice as it rattled from her throat.

Loki shook his head at her slowly, his eyes filling with a sudden air of melancholy.

It vanished just as quickly.

He adjust himself to her side, lightly brushing away some of the dirt over her hair before he guided her over onto her back. She felt the grains rolling off of her in sheets with the motion.

He leaned over her.

"Come now," he murmured, slipping one of him arms beneath the bend of her knees, the other supporting her torso as he gracefully rose to stand with her in his arms.

The familiar scent of spiced leather was equal parts calming and unsettling.

It left a sickness churning deep within her belly.

Jane instinctively wrapped her arm around his shoulders to hold herself up.

A small shrill of panic hummed in her heart as he turned beneath her and started walking.

It was familiar now too.

She leaned her head back to peer one last time through the darkness behind him, praying to catch a glimpse of a flowing scarlet cape or a bright flash of lightening pierce the dark sky.

* * *

_**Epigram:** Black - Sarah Mclachlan_


	9. Entwined

~**  
A/N:**  
Your love is humbling.  
This one's for you.

* * *

_~  
When it's black_  
_take a little time to hold yourself_  
_take a little time to feel around_  
_before it's gone_  
~

* * *

It was a strange feeling, getting sent out before the usual scouts to scope out a field of battle.

Thor had grown used to, and quite fond of, being the one to sweep in near the end and clean it up.

He held Mjölnir at the ready as his feet met the dirt.

First things first.

The Dark Elves would pay for their misgivings.

He had shown up only a heart splitting moment too late, just in time to hear Malekith order the beast to drive a dagger through his mother's back.

Just in time to watch it all unfold.

The _coward._

His monsters would be of no use to him now.

Hopefully he had proven that to him back on Asgard, where a good portion of his army still lay slain, all while he tucked his vermin tail between his legs and hastily departed.

Thor had seen many a 'Malekith' rise and fall in his battles for peace but never once had he wanted to end one so badly with his own bare hands.

He would not be failing his mother again.

A sudden shove between the shoulder blades knocked him forward from his thoughts.

"Move it. If Volstagg falls on me, I may not live long enough to finish this battle."

Thor could only manage to shake his massive head in mock disapproval at Lady Sif's light demeanor amidst world war.

Just as he stepped clear of her path, Volstagg and Fandral crashed to the ground in a way that made both standing warriors cringe.

"What kind of demented hidden portal is this?!" Volstagg grumbled, rising awkwardly from his belly, to his knees, then to his feet. He stilled and his eyes widened as he took in the surrounding landscape. With a sudden, overwhelming amount of insecurity, he eased down to pick his war axe up from the dirt.

"The right one, obviously," Fandral pointed out as he matched Volstagg's tense stance and gauged the surroundings for himself. "And I believed Jotunheim to be the worst of them..."

The harsh breeze tossed Thor's cape about behind him as the brightness of the conduit dispersed in a flash and gave over to complete darkness so quickly that even his godly eyes took a moment to adjust.

It couldn't have been a more appropriate destination, considering the tasks that had been forced upon him.

He turned to face his friends.

"We must find where the Dark Elves retreated to before they have time to regroup. We can split up and circle the grounds. Call to Heimdall at the first sign of trouble. He will tell father where to send reinforcements." Thor bellowed above the breeze. He turned his head to gaze around him, shielding his eyes with the side of his hand. "There," he pointed a finger south. "If conditions worsen or you are forced to fall back, head for the mountains. If we get picked apart we'll..."

Something snatched his attention.

His thick brow scrunched.

He'd heard something shrill and sharp come in just above the sandy hills.

His name...?

His fingers squeezed around Mjölnir's handle.

"We will _what_?" Sif cocked an impatient eyebrow at him.

Thor shook his head of Svartalfheim's tricks. Even though he hadn't completed all of his readings, he had been well warned.

"We will retreat to the caves if necessary," he continued. "The faster we end this, the faster we can return home. But no one touches Malekith until I can get the location of the Aether out of him."

"You mean Jane's whereabouts," Fandral chimed in, a sly half smile cutting through the darkness of the situation.

Sif shot him an exasperated glance and jabbed the blabbermouth hard upon the shoulder.

Volstagg snorted.

Thor was unamused.

"Heimdall has not been able to see her... Either Loki is up to his schemes or..." His gaze fell to the ground as he pushed away the thought. He moved on instead, though his voice failed to hide the leftover strain. "Keep your focus on the elves. I will deal with the Aether and my brother when the time comes."

Volstagg stepped forward to clasp a giant hand over the armor at Thor's shoulder, giving it a reassuring shake. He met his eyes.

"This ends today, Odinson."

And with his promise, the ground shook beneath their feet.

* * *

Two long strides and the rippling portal that appeared before them tickled against her skin as he stepped through it on the third.

The world blinked in a dazzling haze of dark blues and grays, and when she lifted her head to get a better look, she found herself staring into the crescent opening of the cave.

She frowned back at it, realizing that she couldn't have made it very far at all.

The once welcoming sight taunted her.

She pushed back against a ruthless wave of claustrophobia as he crossed the threshold without missing a step, his hands shifting some beneath her as he moved, skillfully as a whiptail along the jagged rock.

Loki slowed as he neared the dying glow of the remaining fire.

He knelt in an unhurried descent to one knee. The gentleness of the act was more than her weary mind was able to even attempt to comprehend.

His hands released her small form so that she leaned against a sloping stone a few feet to the left of the flame.

Jane shuffled her tired legs away from both him and the licks of heat as promptly as she could, not wanting to feel the slightest sweep of its warmth.

He watched her curiously as he rose, taking two drawn steps backward before turning to make his way from the cave. He dipped out of view for only a second, returning with the forgotten canteen of water from where she'd left it outside.

He held it down to her but she couldn't make herself take it from him, instead focusing on where the light danced upon a particular facet of shining rock on the wall opposite from her. It was white and twinkling. She tried to ignore the feeling of hot tears as they still so silently spilled from swollen eyes. Everything was blurry.

She didn't even tense up as he took another step forward, the loose corner of his long coat nearly rubbing against the side of her boot as he bent to drop the container on the ground at her side.

The _clang_ of metal meeting rock ricocheted within the small space.

It sounded miles away.

Again he turned from her, stopping a short distance away to tend to the fading flame.

"Please don't," the ghost of a plead that came from her was very nearly voiceless.

Loki stalled mid-motion, the pale fingers of his left hand hovering so close to the fire's base that they were hued red. His eyes remained on it.

"Of all things to be feared..."

His voice dipped in quiet scorn but not with the level of harshness she'd still been awaiting.

All at once he pulled his hand away and his posture slackened. He fell back easily into a seated position from his crouch, letting the sides of his elbows fall to rest upon each of his bent knees.

"Are you even aware of what you've just done?"

Jane had never heard his elegant voice sound so defeated. She could never imagine him sitting upon the dirty floor, either.

The observation was fleeting.

"I fought back," some of the life returned to her tone as she recalled the thrilling sight that had led her to do so. She blinked once to clear the moisture building in her eyes. "And you might as well end this now because I promise you I'm not going to stop."

He moved his forearms to bridge the gap between his knees, locking his right hand over his left.

"And therein lies our problem. You've ended it _for_ me," his lifeless words successfully drew her eyes away from the wall. "That explosion shook through every inch of sand on this depraved planet... An obvious beacon to anyone - or any_thing_ that knows what they are looking for." He paused, curling his fingers and dragging them in slow patterns across his left palm. "It is how I found you so quickly."

She swallowed dryly, her thoughts flicking briefly to the canteen full of water beside her before she refocused on a much more important matter.

"Then you must have felt the conduit too," the back of her dirty hand scratched across her damp cheek.

"Yes," his nod was as lethargic as his words. His eyes narrowed. "I felt its energy first. Enough to restore anyone's faith I suppose. But they are all fools who haven't the _slightest _idea of what they are getting themselves into."

Jane looked to him, a delicate grimace pulling at her lips.

"How are we any different?"

His brow dipped low over his eyes with her words. They slipped closed for a moment before they reopened to find her.

She watched him spin something over and over in his mind, the process stilling his fingers and slightly uncurling his posture.

"Magic..." The way his voice grasped so despairingly onto the word echoed more through her ears than the word itself. "I was blessed with both its gifts and its curses... and the best teacher in all the lands. Others like my brother are not so lucky. He knows not what he faces."

She recognized the look that flashed across his features more easily than she would have liked to admit to herself.

"I saw you seal off the cave," Jane complied with a soft nod. She watched his jaw tighten. "But the Aether blew straight through whatever shield you put on me. We... I'm not safe here."

Loki cocked his head to considered her with mystified eyes.

"You never were."

A chill crept down her spine, cooling her burning skin. She waited until the sensation fizzled out to speak again.

"With your abilities and Thor's strength this could all be ended without anyone else getting hurt... or anything worse happening..." She began cautiously, but knew she'd already failed when he pushed off his knees to stand. Her tone rose a note as she desperately tried to reach for something within him. "If that conduit really was Thor, he may need our help... He had to have heard the explosion too. He's probably out there looking for us right now..."

Loki's eyes heated to molten emerald, turning so heavily down upon her that she drew her head back against the solid rock.

"Under direct order, I'm sure" his towering shadow trembled diagonally across her legs though the voice that resounded from its caster remained an icy calm. "While I did not care to learn much else about our _father _(he spat the curse), I knew his rage all too well. Of course Thor is here for us but not to live up to such _romantic_ standards. In case you have yet to notice, I am not exactly going to be welcomed back into Asgard with open arms... And _that _fact just happens to be one of my highest accomplishments as of yet." He straightened slowly and relaxed his fists at his sides. "There are no heroes here, Jane."

He stepped just past her feet in the direction of the cave entrance.

She shook her head, watching his boots as they moved across the floor.

"No heroes... just brothers fighting for the same cause... The same revenge."

He stopped just as abruptly as she'd expected him to and her anchored heart just as suddenly felt too heavy within her chest. For both of them.

"She was _your_ mother, too, Loki. And I'm sorry for my part in her death..." She managed in a whisper, her features crumpling beneath the weight of the hushed apology. "I truly am."

Jane saw his shoulders slump in the barest of movements before he moved on to take his nightly post.

Exhaustion won over shortly after as she did all she could to remain still so that her angry muscles didn't scream at her in protest. Her mind, however, did the opposite; tirelessly trying to decide if the _'thank you'_ that'd barely touched her ears had been real or if her imagination had simply gone as wild as her heart.

* * *

_**Epigraph:** I Won't Let You Go - James Morrison_


	10. Taut Lessons

~  
**A/N:**  
Because I can't physically lean through the computer screen to hug each and every one of you,  
here's a longer chapter to do it for me.

* * *

~  
_I want to hide the truth_  
_I want to shelter you_  
_but with the beast inside,_  
_there's nowhere we can hide_  
~

* * *

It was not anger that seeped from the coiled ball of heat pressed firmly up against his breast bone, as he'd dug his heels into the sand and hastily slid down the final steep slope of the range. He had not stormed her with the fury she rightfully deserved for trying to run from him when he'd come across her, face down in the piling dirt.

Loki turned tormented eyes to the storm forming well beyond the cave as he continued to wonder just what exactly had stopped him.

Had it been the way her spirit so clearly left her eyes? Or maybe it'd been the expression she wore when he'd tilted her face up; reminding him of every glass prison he'd ever been forcefully contained in; so perfectly matching the forlorn mask that reflected back at him each blistering time.

What did it matter.

Jane had trumped his magic once again. She'd ruined everything.

_Every_thing.

And yet he found himself standing guard at the front door of the dark hideout she'd just placed a beaming spot light upon like some sort of housebroken hound.

All while she slept in a pitiful heap of dirt and tears across the floor.

As if she actually _did _feel safe.

His eyes wandered to her with the disturbing notion.

She had cried well into her sleep, the hollows of her eyes and the glossy skin just beneath them nearly clean of dirt altogether after the onslaught. Even from his distance he could see that her eyes were swollen beneath their puffy lids. Her strained face showed none of the comfort sleep had provided her on her first night with him.

The entire fit had been one of silence after her apology; both acts showing such defiant strength in one so small.

From the first day they'd landed within Svartalfheim's grasp, he'd known her already chipping fractures would give and she would break entirely, just as this land did to any living entity prone to light.

He had even waited with sick fascination to witness it occur after everything she'd brought upon him, never imagining the sight would vex him so deeply.

_No heroes… just brothers._

Loki shut the words between his teeth. They were heavy ash in his mouth.

_Gods,_ how did she know exactly where to strike him each time he unknowingly lay the opportunity before her. His silver tongue held nothing against the gashing sinew of hers.

He had never felt so outdone.

It burdened him in a way he couldn't put a name to because he _knew_ her words were never meant to strike him back – yet they did so with a skill unbeknownst to him. He was so used to digging beneath the most vulnerable skin; enjoyed it – finding the rawest of wounds in places his victims believed them to be well hidden and bringing them to the surface with a wicked twist of carefully chosen invectives.

She'd found his own as if they still gaped open along his bared skin.

Even took it upon herself to bandage them with the salted gauze of regret.

Though she had always seemed to have a certain amount of difficulty accepting her true purpose, he supposed.

But who was he to admonish such a flaw?

* * *

Jane flinched awake.

She could feel something crawling over her outstretched legs and she tilted her head down toward it automatically.

The quick movement ached in the sore muscles of her neck.

Not crawling; _slithering._

She gasped and pushed herself back hard against the solid rock.

The vibrant, multi-colored stripes instantly brought Erik's cautious words of warning to the front of her hastened thoughts.

_Red on black, venom lack…_

She blinked twice, trying to will her mind to focus through the heart pounding fear.

_Red on yellow…_

"Will kill a fellow," she whispered fighting against the sudden urge to thrash her legs.

A Coral snake, bigger than any she had ever come across in her nightly studies within the deserts of New Mexico slithered in a lazy zigzag down the length of her right shin. Erik had told her repeatedly, in _excruciatingly _vivid detail, of just what it meant to be bit by one.

She hadn't feared snakes until then.

It left goosebumps in its wake where it brushed up against her jeans and ducked beneath the raised curve of her ankle. Its head reappeared over her left boot, tasting the air with its forked tongue as it slid languidly up her shin to explore her knee.

With every lax swivel of its head in her direction, panic broke loose within her.

She placed her hand flat against the ground in an attempt to push herself up, but found that her muscles failed her.

She slid her left heel an inch along the ground toward her in preparation to shake her leg but the searing pain that filled her joints made it feel as if she were cemented to the stone.

Her hand shot for the dagger at her side.

Her chest filled with heat.

"Loki!"

She frantically swiped over its middle with the back of her left hand as it climbed higher along her thigh. The serpent released a chilling hiss at her efforts; its blackened tail curling around the contours of her knee as its striped head rose and flinched back in swift agitation. Just as she drew the blade to slash at it, the snake struck.

Jane tried to jerk her hand away just as sharp teeth buried deep into soft flesh.

She felt every needling point as it bit down and locked its jaw in place, its top sinking just behind her knuckles and its bottom encircling the entirety of her inner palm. The snake trashed through the air as she frantically shook her hand. Her scream caught in her throat at the stinging pain, starting from where it pierced her and shooting through every nerve of her wrist, searing up, around the bend of her elbow and rounding her shoulder in its race to reach her heart.

"Jane."

A calm voice called to her and a cool sensation restrained one of her forearms. She felt the dagger being slid from her grasp.

"Jane…Shhh."

His softly rolling voice pierced through the haze but the scorch was red and blinding.

"Look at me, you need to control yourself."

Jane heard the words but her heart did not.

Her veins burned.

His grip tightened. He shook her softly.

"Look at me."

Loki's voice sharpened around the repeated command and her eyes snapped to focus up at him.

She stilled when she found him crouched at her side, his eyes peering into hers, and his fingers locked around her just beneath her wrists.

"It is not real…" His eyes widened to crease his brow with the promise as he shook his head at her. "Whatever you see, it is not there."

He lifted her hands up an inch into the space between them.

Jane ran her eyes down the faint splotches of glowing red along the back of her dirtied hands. The scarlet deepened between his pale fingers but she found none of the punctures or blood she'd expected. Her gaze fell to frantically search the ground around her lap.

"There was a snake…"

He shook his head at her again.

"There are no such specimens here. This land cannot support them." He assured her with science. "Breathe, Jane."

Jane searched both her hand and the ground once more before she allowed herself to take a full breath of air and released a rattled coughed at the feel of it in her lungs. She exhaled and took another until her chest ached.

"It _bit_ me." She supplied distractedly, turning against his hold so that her palms faced her as she searched for the arch of blood that should have marked her palm. Her fingers trembled slightly before her eyes.

Loki's hold released her forearms to reach for her right hand. He spread hers out flat, flipping her palm up, then turning it over toward her in show with a soft raise of his brow to prove his word.

"It was imagined. You are unscathed. And you _need_ to calm down before you blow us both to pieces."

She watched on fixedly as his warning sunk in and the Aether retreated from the surface of her skin with her slowing pulse.

"What was that?" She breathed. "Was I dreaming?"

When her gaze rose to question him, he released her entirely and eased back into a more relaxed crouch. For a moment he turned his attention to the cave entrance. She met his gaze there and saw that black clouds painted the horizon.

He tensed and she turned her eyes back on him to watch as realization struck like a long lost voice had called his name.

"No. I believe you are being hunted," his tone was grim with awareness. His gaze hardened past her, a sudden wicked grin teasing his lips. "He thinks he can outsmart me with rudiment trickery… The Accursed grows desperate."

She wasn't sure if his last muttered words were meant for her ears, but when his eyes lowered to her they were alive with a current that both ebbed and flowed.

It restarted her heart.

"They're close, aren't they?"

"Are you well?"

The urgency behind his inquiry answered her own.

"I don't think so," she admitted honestly, taking a moment to test her legs without the added weight of panic. They still screamed. "Ever since the blast, the Aether's been behaving differently. I can feel it now. Constantly," she paused with a wince as she relaxed the back of her knee against the ground. "It's exhausting."

"Then so can he. It is not meant for your kind," he supplied feebly, his tone heavy but lacking the usual distaste for the recognition.

Jane noted it with a furrowed brow, mentally thumbing through his warnings in the silence. One of his first to her stood out amongst the others.

"It's going to kill me, isn't it?"

It was barely a question.

His mouth fell to a mild frown.

"It will serve its purpose if allowed," he nodded carefully.

For a long while, he studied her in a way that made her anxious to know the intentions that lie hidden just behind his eyes; even more so than usual.

He reached down to pick the dagger up from the ground beside him. The glistening emerald embedded tastefully within its golden hilt gleamed in the soft fire light and nearly matched his distant eyes.

"Do you remember what else I taught you?"

Jane swallowed, realizing that his thoughts had gone back to the same place as her own. To a time where she couldn't have imagined him caring what information she chose to store away for future use. Because he had made it very clear then that she may not have much of one left before her.

The despair must have touched her eyes.

Loki reached to lift her right hand from her lap and pressed the heavy handle into her palm.

She looked down to watch him wrap his large hand around hers, trapping her warm fingers firmly between the two chilling surfaces.

Her head nodded up at him on its own endeavor.

"I remember."

He waited for her eyes to follow to speak.

"Good. Then it is time for your next lesson." The toe of his boot scraped against the ground as he slid his crouched form back some. "Close your eyes."

Her heart flipped in her chest at his unwarranted request. She stared at him in wary indecision.

"Do not make me repeat myself."

The threat was low and empty but it still quietly rumbled through her core in a way that caused instinct to take over.

She slipped her eyes closed and automatically tensed at the sound of leather moving over stone.

"Now open them."

And she did with haste – to spot three Loki's standing tall in front of her.

She fought the urge to smile as she remembered the first time he'd tried this trick.

Their faces soured at her terrible effort.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves, Jane," he scolded blithely, his eyes tightening a fraction to chide her wit. "It will be your undoing. I am no snake."

It was her turn to scoff lightly at him. She lifted the tip of the dagger and pointed it in their direction.

"And I am not your prey."

They cocked a brow at that and she shifted the blade to target the far left Loki.

She grinned.

"See."

All at once she felt the surface she leaned against disappear from behind her.

A flutter of panic flipped in her chest at the idea of the back of her head colliding against the unforgiving ground.

Before she had the chance to react, the curve of her neck fell back comfortably over something much softer in comparison.

Jane gazed up wide-eyed and behind her to find a satisfied smile gleaming only within his eyes. They hovered over her.

Her head rested just above his bent knee as he crouched sideways, his shoulder leaned in a show of total ease against the relocated boulder.

"Aren't you?"

She glared up at him for only a second – then she lunged.

Only this time she moved slowly; controlled. Turning the dagger so that its dangerous end faced up and bending her elbow to move the glistening blade even with her leaning torso. She tested him, inching her loaded hand toward him over her head. From her position, she could see the small snag she'd left the first time. She stopped only when the deadly point hovered a hair's breadth before it.

Her hand held steady.

His unmoving features returned the challenge as he made no motion to stop her; no movement at all, until his eyes flicked from where the steel nearly grazed his chest to meet her gaze.

They softened.

"You've already failed."

He rose swiftly to stand before the quiet declaration had finished dissolving her frustration fueled courage.

Her hands fell to her sides to support her weight.

"I fail to see the point too," she muttered, using her free hand to angle herself back against the stirred rock.

The remaining light of victory faded from his face.

"The _point_ is that your brain is being targeted by dark magic," he began, "and you must learn to keep control over it or it will turn against you."

"You say that like it hasn't already…" A fresh burst of frustration nipped along her skin. "Do you really think I haven't _been_ trying? I'm sorry, but it's a little difficult for me to control my temper when I'm constantly being ridiculed."

His eyebrow languidly rose high over nonchalant eyes.

"You don't say."

She blinked, bewildered and effectively silenced.

Loki strode evenly to the edge of the cave and took advantage of it.

He looked back at her.

"I am stepping out to assess matters. With you being debilitated, you would be dead weight to me beyond the cave's fortification and for the time being, you will have to stay here. You should be safe, so long as you do not lose your head or try anything stupid."

_Again_. He didn't even have to say it.

Her gaze fell with his mess of threats and cautions and her heart fell with it.

"Thor said something similar to me while I was imprisoned… He told me I would be _safer_," her heavy eyes lifted from the ground. "As if it was a valid enough excuse to just leave me in there… I was trying to get him to see just how wrong he was before you beat him over the head."

Loki exhaled in revulsion.

"And I would do so again for much less," he replied matter-of-factly. "Thor blindly believed that he would have some sort of home front advantage by bringing this battle onto Asgardian soil. If he would have gotten his way, your abandonment issues would be the very least of your worries…" He stopped short, a sickness touching the corners of his eyes. "My brother has never been one of the brighter stars above us."

Jane only looked at him for a while. His words had a knack for carrying more than one meaning and she wondered just when exactly it was that she had gotten so good at picking up on it. Or why they didn't quite match the lines etched above his brow...

Why they didn't hurt so much anymore.

"What happens now?" She asked of him warily, both in a desperate search for information and to distract herself from such profound thought.

His frown deepened at the question.

"That depends entirely on who I come across first."

The implication behind his words took shape almost instantly and it frightened her more than any threat he'd made against her own being.

"That's not an answer."

He turned to step across the threshold.

"None I give you would suffice."

Jane leaned her heavy head back, nearly defeated, against the rock. Her eyes stared into the blackness above as she listened to his parting paces. Her thumb slid lightly along the dagger's hilt.

"You owe me one, Loki," she prodded gently at the shadows.

His steps stopped short.

She lifted her head to find him.

Her eyes met his as they just barely shown from the deepening darkness beyond the cave. They watched her in waiting.

There were a million questions she could ask him at that moment and she knew just by the fact that he remained there that he would answer any one within reason.

Still, the freshest cut burned deepest.

"Why did I fail?"

Silence surrounded them for a long moment.

His eyes disappeared from view.

He took a single step forward into the edge of light and she watched the shadows refuse to leave the lines of his drawn features.

"Because you have heart, Jane," her name rung alive upon his lips before his voice fell flat, "and like your imagined snake, this cursed darkness will not support such a tragedy."

He turned and left her; numb where she sat.

* * *

_**Epigram:** Demons - Imagine Dragons_


	11. One More Son

~  
A/N:  
I hope each and every one of you have the merriest of Christmases and happiest of Holidays!  
And that's pretty much as bright as this one's going to get...

* * *

~  
_When there's nowhere else to run_  
_is there room for one more son?_  
~

* * *

Loki's limbs felt heavy as he trudged across the dirt.

Not in weakness, but still in foreign strain.

The common act of walking would not have been his first method of travel but he thought better of using his magic at such a time. Malekith would be watching for it. He was certain after the way Jane was being scoped out. And to stir the air so close to the cave would only give his adversary a bigger lead.

He kept the mountain range just off to his right but his eyes remained in the direction of the storm clouds building within the northeastern skies.

He recognized them easily, knowing exactly who he would face beneath them; expected to see them sooner or later, but still hated them with a bitterness that matched the biting winds.

At the first flicker of lightening he would teleport, using its robust energy as a form of protection over the much smaller blip of his own. Robust and much too flashy. His brother claimed to control lightening but what a farce that was. Nothing controlled lightening. It was wild and greedy and overly ostentatious. Suitable for its _master_ he supposed. To truly be in control meant restraint; a skill that even before he'd been handed the hammer, his brother had no care to study, no matter how much he had persistently urged him to.

So when the bright burst of electricity cut in fine, blue branches across the blackening sky just as he knew it would, Loki transferred to its origin.

An unfair battle unfolded in the gully below him. Dust drifted up from clashing bodies like a coppery smoke screen doing everything in its power to hide the carnage just beneath.

Its efforts were useless.

Guns blasted dark energy like molten mercury. At least thirty mask-clad attackers swarmed Thor and the petulant Lady warrior at his flank. Thor called to the skies above for aide against them.

And for a while, Loki only watched.

Where his brother was harsh, Sif was harsher still; bashing enemies with the blunt force of her shield when they drew near enough and finishing them off with an inelegant lunge of her great sword. She bled from a deep gash along her hairline.

He carefully took note of how easily the God of Thunder moved around her; with her, their backs aligning and shifting as they covered one another amidst the swarm of dark matter and fiery explosions. How her shield came up to block each time a shot should have passed over her shoulders to sting the back of Thor's. How his lightening danced around the pair in such practiced, odd, precision, whipping at any enemy that stray too close.

_Graceful_? No, that's not what it could be called. There was no grace before him.

But what he did see was unprecedented opportunity.

He waited for the right moment to make his move. To intercede.

To strike.

It came when a fleet of five Dark Elves stormed toward Thor, his focus on the first to charge allowing the others to break his chain of energy as they closed in on him and tore with ragged swipes of daggers and mangled claws at plated armor.

Sif turned hastily to aide him.

Loki blinked through the air and made it to Thor's side before she could complete the motion.

He felt the weight of his armor mold around him in a protective embrace. At the same time, he drew his daggers from golden bracers, ducking his tall stature beneath an orb of black without having to look in the direction it had been fired from.

He could _feel _the magic clashing with his own as he dodged around another blow and drove blades into the ashy, exposed skin between the shoulder blades of an elf clawing at Thor's back. For a few seconds, the would-be attacker became a make-shift shield.

"Loki?" Thor peered over his shoulder to watch Loki drop the dead elf to the dirt. He turned back around just in time to deflect a dark matter grenade with his hammer. It bounced back into the sea of elves and exploded, sending flaming shrapnel through the air and dwindling their numbers substantially.

Loki heard the surprise in his brother's voice. He could see Sif glaring acid at him over her deteriorating opponent, proving she'd heard it too. His eyes never left hers as he lunged forward to dodge another shot, the edge of his blade sweeping through the soft flesh behind his attacker's knee.

"Let's save the welcome party till this is over, hm?"

And with that, he spun around to catch another enclosing elf up under the neck, just behind his jaw, his blade rising up to the hilt in unseen carnage. His victim dropped to his knees before him as he rose to his feet and he couldn't help but to wonder if they knew just what it was they were fighting so passionately for; giving their lives up with such relentless honor for nothing.

Either way, they were so recklessly misguided that he had to silently praise their master.

He drew back, watching as the soldier's stained mask fell even more lifeless upon the red ground.

* * *

Jane watched the day pass as the silhouette of rocks just outside the cave casted longer and longer shadows across the uneven gravel. Whether it was his lingering words to her or the throbbing she could swear he still felt in her hand, she wasn't sure, but she had never felt so mentally strung out.

Her mind had always tried to wrap around every trial placed before it. She loved a challenge, being faced with new strands of information, weaving bits and pieces into theories. Testing them till there was no room or place for error. Bringing irrefutable evidence into light and proudly stamping her name on it, proving everyone who ever doubted her wrong.

Though now it seemed like the evidence just kept piling up and the facts were too much to intertwine.

_"Magic's just science we don't understand yet."_

She'd quoted Clark multiple times before when the two deities had sparred against one another within her own world. Now that she had been whisked away to another, it was painfully clear that she'd only held a sliver of understanding about just how right the wise author was.

Now there was an alien species toying with her mind; accessing her thoughts and making her see things that didn't actually exist. But she had _felt_ the snake; its scales writhing over her jeans. Its teeth in her skin. It mixed with the lingering tingle of his touch and the steel.

She still glanced down at her hand every so often. Her brow twisted this time.

None of this should exist really. She had made it her life's mission to align the stars and bridge the gap of unknown darkness between them. And when she finally did, it only made it clear that they had been distinctly separated for a reason.

The human race was inferior to all the others thus far. She'd learned firsthand. Seen it in New York. Watched on helplessly from her prison cell. Felt it when she stood too close to them; how her skin prickled in the presence of Thor's power and Loki's, well, _presence_.

She could also feel it every time the Aether pushed too tightly through her frail, human veins, reminding her that her body was nothing more than a shell for it to hide in; her own lesser life force nurturing it and sustaining it just enough until it could find a more suitable dwelling.

A cave within the caves.

Her hollow huff was loaded with disdain.

They were _all_ gods in comparison, every one of them, and if one god or another didn't end her life first, the dark energy in her blood would do so for them.

Her mind went to work and sought out every possibility; every outcome that could result from this. Some knotted her stomach. Others brought the Aether to a fuzzing simmer. And while none of them were necessarily _good_, a few were much more appealing than others.

She could keep her promise to Loki and fight or she could sit still as instructed and rot within the cave, waiting for either the devil or his advocate to reappear on her doorstep.

Jane slowly spun the dagger's handle between her thumb and forefinger to calm herself. It froze in her hand when she realized that the small swell of anxiety that overcame her was not only for herself.

If Malekith's magic so easily pierced the cave's veil from who-knows-where, then just what he was capable of up close and personal was a troubling thought. Loki's war story didn't help either. Facing an enemy that wanted nothing more than to send the universe back into total darkness was almost as terrifying as it was captivating. And judging by his claims before he'd left the cave, that was exactly what he planned on doing.

Even though she had spent days with him now, his intentions were still more unclear than their actual enemy's. What she did know is that whatever he had planned would play in his own favor. He had always seemed like he had something to prove and she was sure that, much like with the battle for Earth, his end game was not going to be pleasant, no matter what skills or kindness he offered her up until then. She was nothing more than a pawn trapped amidst his battle of tricks and wit.

And she had thought his _first_ attack had been too close to home...

While the Chitauri army had been terrifying in their own rite, she was quickly learning that there was nothing more frightening than being under a Trickster God's direct attention; nothing more confusing, or heavy, or perplexing. Especially when he held the advantage; just as he always did, sweeping her feet out from beneath her in one way or another.

He did not need a hammer.

And she was not one to succumb to a challenge, no matter how godly it was.

* * *

With the three of them slashing, bruising, and outwitting, the Dark Elves' numbers steadily depleted.

Thor's arm tightened around the final enemy's neck and he was about to bring down the final blow.

Loki could see the bitter hatred reflecting back at him from the elf's unmasked eyes.

"Let him live."

The words silenced everything but the winds and brought Thor's hammer to rest.

Sif pulled her blade from the chest of a fallen enemy, stepping over a badly battered form toward the golden-armored god.

"Who are you to make commands?" Her tone was as harsh as her swing. "We came here to finish what _you_ started so let us get on with it."

"What _I_ started?" Loki took a slow step back, holding dagger-filled hands out before him in mock surrender. "He can be used to gather valuable information. And you clearly need it, considering your facts are as muddled as your intentions."

Thor dropped the elf in question to the ground just in time to free an arm to block her path. If a look alone could set fire, Loki would have been draped in smoke.

"And what of yours?" Thor asked straightforwardly, though it failed to hide the wariness upon his brow.

Loki's eyes tightened on the pair.

"Why chose to practice inhibition now? We all know what truly troubles you."

Thor's arm lowered from barring Sif down to his side. She blinked her eyes to the ground.

Thor's brow pulled down, sullen.

"Then you should know that it is what awaits us back home should this not go smoothly."

Loki was left surprised by his brother's words. He had not expected them or the dark expression that looked strange on the God of Thunder's normally flamboyant features. It was almost enough to make him seek further details.

He thought better of it and focused more on the pain building within his chest, sneering instead.

"What _awaits_ _us_?" Loki lifted a brow at his brother's insolence. "Our mother's death was all part of the plan then? Just a casualty of your quest for the throne?"

This time Sif's hand rose to grab Thor's forearm.

"Why must you constantly twist my words, Loki?" His voice shook through the sand. "Do you even know why she lost her life?"

Loki dipped his head though his eyes stayed level.

"Because you allowed it."

He watched as his words ripped Thor apart momentarily, just as they were destined to. His forehead lost all sign of struggle soon after, with well weathered expertise.

"She died how she lived. By protecting that which needed protection, just as she has always done... And she would not want this for you, brother." He paused in an attempt at reason. "Now let's end this and go home."

The order in his voice reminded Loki of his father.

He hated his father.

"My _home_… my _place_ in Asgard… it died along with her. I was caged away like an animal, leaving her protection to fall into your hands and because of your reckless heart and wretched quim, it simply does not matter what she would want now." He pointed a blade at his brother, his eyes filling with uninvited moisture and white heat. "And having even an ounce of hope in my welcomed return shows just how imprudent you truly are… how senseless you believe me to be."

Loki moved toward the pair of perplexed gods, and with a rise and fall of his hand, made it so that they were frozen where they stood. He watched the faint clutch of Sif's fingers around the hilt of her sword. It was nice seeing fear liven the goddess' hateful features.

"How many more creative ways do I have to come up with to show you how far beyond penance I am?" He craned his neck with fervor as if he searched for an answer.

Because he just might have been at that moment.

"Loki…" Thor warned, only his eyes moving to train down on Loki's empty hands as he neared. They showed no fear; only heavy disappointment.

Enough so to refresh the idea that he approached a true son of Odin, but not enough to deter the weight of shame the look from his brother placed upon his shoulders; in a way that even Odin himself was never able to achieve. He internally shook it off just the same, stopping a single pace before the tense twosome.

Loki wrapped glowing fingers around the edge of Thor's chest plate and gritted his teeth against the unyielding weight of his haggard expression.

"There is only one way for me to return _home_. Your interference is not needed again. I do not want to be rescued from this,_ brother_."

He released him with a disgusted push and Thor's huge stature limply toppled over onto the ground. He turned his attention down to Sif and returned her piercing glare.

Loki took her chin slowly; lightly in his fingertips, smearing in the blood that had made it that far down her face. He drank in the unadulterated disgust that crossed her features.

His eyes snapped over her when the white light of another huge conduit glistened bright along the distant horizon and trembled the land around them.

He was scorched by her mocking grin when he finally looked back down.

"I see I am not the only one aware that it is much too late for things to go _smoothly_." He drawled as her eyes fluttered closed and he released her limp body onto the dirt.

For a while, he searched the grey skies and steadied his breathing.

Then he moved to bitterly grab the wounded Dark Elf up from his curled heap on the dirt.

"Tell the Accursed I wish to speak with him... tell him what you saw here," he ordered. "I hold information about Asgard that will aide him significantly in his pursuit of darkness." He reached down to grab a few relics from the ground around him, brushing off a coat of red dust from one and tucking away others with the grace of a skilled magician. "Oh, and do add that if he refuses my request, I will personally escort him into the brightest fires of Hel."

He handed the elf a mask that nearly matched his own and released him over to the sand.

* * *

_**Epigraph:** All These Things That I've Done - The Killers_


	12. Sparked Embers

~  
**A/N:**  
This, my lovely readers, is the chapter I originally wanted to have out to you by Christmas,  
but because of [insert flamboyant, job-related excuses here] I sadly wasn't able to.  
I truly would love to know what you think about this one.

* * *

~  
_With progress comes problems_  
_With wisdom comes age_  
_With lessons come learning_  
_And pleasure comes with pain_

_You can only have the sunshine after the rain_  
~

* * *

Jane looped the strap of the sloshing canteen over her shoulder.

She did not know how long Loki was going to be gone or who was going to show up next but her depleting supply of water was enough to help her think rationally. The urging of the brightening sky helped too.

Her muscles hated her for every move she made as she rose uneasily. The bulky rocks she leaned on provided little assistance when her weight alone was what ailed her. She swore her blood matched them in density.

With a slight limp she made it out into the dim light of the new day and took a moment to eye the land rolling out from below her like a rippled red carpet. It was blank and empty, and void of threat aside from the dirt itself for as far as she could see.

She started her ascent only after she checked a second, thorough time.

Her muscles grew somewhat looser as she moved but the joints of her knees felt as if sandpaper lie between them during each of her slow steps. She distracted herself with theorems and lighter memories; Darcy's jabs and Erik's warm smiles, spending hours out on the roof of her old research lab gazing at the clear sky, her hands wrapped around a warm mug of coffee… and she never ever imagined she could miss that old, raggedy van so much.

A curse would only slip from her lips when her foot would land wrong every so often and cause the cramping pain in her calves to flair. It was something she took a small amount of pride in. Loki had wanted her to show more control right? Baby steps.

She made it to the lowest level of snow and decided it would have to do. While it was already partially soppy and mixing with the dirt, she had no way of melting it now that her container was nothing more than cold steel. That, and she simply could not convince herself to travel any farther up.

Jane's fingers were turning red and going numb by the time she got enough slush into the small opening to be worth the climb.

The walk back down the mountain was a blessing in a place where few existed. Her feet half strode, half slid down the soft dirt inclines and she smiled down at the welcomed lack of exertion on her part. She still had to use a well-placed boulder or a high pile of dirt to catch herself here and there but even with her soreness, she was getting much better at this.

She took the final step down onto the ledge of the cave and looked out instead of in. It was a mistake from the beginning.

With her replenished water supply at her left hip and the sharp dagger at her right, all she would have to do was last long enough to get to Thor... Right? No, something about it was off. The thought struck her wrong, pressing hard against her lungs as she remembered Loki's words and began to wonder what Thor's true reasons for being on Svartalfheim were. His father had a way of getting under his skin. It showed so clearly in his actions since his return; they way he'd spoken to her through the prison glass... They could have been standing a million miles apart.

But what did she expect, honestly? She had only known the golden haired god for two days. More than enough time to become enamored with him, just as most mortal girls did – Darcy included. But not enough time for her to put her life in his hands. Not after what happened the first time. Not after this.

She was just about to turn around when a soft scratching sound drew her attention down to the base of the cliffs.

The green of his tunic instantly identified the source, though now he was edged in gold as well.

Loki struggled half way up the pathway; his usually firm footing slipping through the sand in a way that was unsettling. Even with her human eyes, she could make out the pain that flashed across his features with each of his movements.

She found it hard to watch, and before she could question why, she was lowering herself down from the steep ledge.

"Loki?" She questioned him as she neared, reaching out to steady him.

The dangerous look he gave her stopped her short from offering any assistance. Her hands fell back to her sides as he stopped before her on the soft slope, her height on the rock allowing her eyes to be level with his.

He wore dirtied armor from his head to his shins. She had seen him in it before, she remembered it much too clearly, but never in person.

Sweat beaded along his forehead just beneath the curve of his helmet, mixing with the dirt that stuck there and giving him a sickly looking sheen. Small dashes of blood marked the stark white skin of his face. They came from no cuts and she realized it was not his own. His eyes were withdrawn; dark and tired in a way that looked incompatible upon the face of a god. Somehow they still held a sweltering glare, but even she knew it was not meant entirely for her.

Under it, her heart weighed with pity for him instead of fear over what exactly had caused the marks and mood. It melted any anger she felt toward him. The latter was somehow scarier.

A thousand questions weighed heavy on her tongue but she kept them locked behind her lips. Words now would without a doubt lead to much harsher ones judging by the tenacity that radiated straight through protective steel.

Instead, she held his gaze with gentle resolve and moved slowly to lift the horned helmet from his temple. Its heavy weight in her hands surprised her. Before she could examine it closer, it's weight subsided as it disintegrated between her palms and vanished from view, leaving her arms awkwardly held in the air at each side of his head.

She retaliated by reached down to take his hand in place of it, holding it lightly in her own as she turned to help him back to the protection of the cave. Her mind screamed at her for crossing clear cut boundaries but she muffled it on the stable grounds that he had done so first, after all.

When he did not budge, she looked back to meet a blazon of tender insecurity just as it passed across his eyes. She'd never seen him so clearly. It was far from the crueler counterpart she expected and it shook her so violently that she was sure that its affliction alone would've floored her where she stood had she filled any other role but captive. She couldn't help but wonder if anyone had ever reached out to him before.

"Come on," she pressed softly, his reaction allowing her nature to overtake her intellect, tipping her head in the direction of the mountain. "Let's get you inside."

And with a gentle tug on his hand, he trailed behind her reverent lead.

* * *

Loki had never felt so many different forms of pain at once, coming in from all sides like an enclosing tomb of jagged splinters.

Why did Thor have to make everything seem so easy? As if the deep, gaping scars he left upon each dominion he graced could be tended to with nothing more than a few stitches of promised redemption. Loki was practiced in the art of healing, sure, but he was no miracle worker.

Then there was the reminder of their mother's death. Of course its bitter bite had stood out the clearest, squeezing his heart with the tight fisted agony that had refused to let up since he'd seen her draped in red along the floor.

It was the reason he had left his own brother in the same position. When he was not getting in the way of things he was being entirely neglectful and Loki could deal with neither at this point.

The increasingly raw throbbing from the gash just beneath his right shoulder blade was not helping either.

Uncoiling his muscles had felt fantastic. It had been far too long since he had put his daggers to their proper use and even so, he had very nearly had a perfect run. Amidst battle it was nothing; a hornet's final, desperate sting. And even if he could reach it with his magic, he wanted to face Malekith on his own terms and it was certainly not in this state.

So when the world stilled and the encounter came to a most unprecedented close, he was left to trudge back through the dirt carrying only a few stolen articles of interest and the painful consequence.

He found no refuge.

Instead, her small hand so tenderly wrapping around his own made his previous troubles out to be child's play in comparison; the maddening way it both fanned and doused the cindering coals within his chest.

* * *

Loki slumped down upon the boulder with a face-contorting wince.

Jane could tell something was very wrong by the way he curled forward, resting one hand on his knee and the other jutting out behind him to press against his right hip as he rode out the wave of pain. His breaths were labored.

She took a step back to search above where his hand lie, making out the faint darkening of the green fabric that ran down his side. It was hidden mostly by the black and gold inset of his chest plate but it only took her a minute to find the small slit where his armor had failed him.

And just like that, she couldn't wait any longer.

"Are you alright?" Jane asked him carefully, removing her jacket and dropping it unceremoniously on the ground.

His mouth opened as he eyed her actions with unconcealed skepticism for a moment before he actually spoke.

"I have faced much worse."

"What did you face this time?" She could hear the small rise of angst come from her and knew he could too.

He ignored it, moving his hand so that both rested on his knees.

"What were you doing beyond the cave?" He breathed toward the ground, doing what he could to straighten.

"I was getting more water," she replied, fighting a cringe as she watched his struggle. "It's a good thing I did because you're going to need it."

The mangle of his brow up at her questioned her claim and her stability all at once.

"You are hurt," She took a defiant step toward him but soothed with her tone. "And I'd rather there be no magic involved at _all_ if we're being targeted like you say. Just to be safe…" her eyes flicked to his back, "unless your injury is even worse than it looks."

An exasperated chuckle cracked from his lips. He winced again as it shook him.

"_Now_ you are interested in keeping our location secret? Why the sudden change of heart?"

Her brown eyes narrowed at the frustrating amount of bemusement that coated his features.

"I'm just trying to help."

A mask of darkness slipped back onto his features in the stretching silence. Her heart thrummed with heart-rending curiosity more than any actual fear.

"If you keep attempting to repair the things I break, you might just make this too easy for me."

The words that once would have raised goose bumps along her skin turned up the corners of her lips instead. She took a moment to dramatically search every dark crevice of the cave with straining eyes.

"Well, Thor is nowhere in sight…" She knelt down at his side and watched the ghost of a smile disappear from his lips. "And someone has to."

His eyes steadily hardened over hers.

"What scheme is this?" The accusation was fast and sharp; instinct.

Jane shook her head sadly at him. She could read the centuries worth of failed trust so easily between the lines on his guarded face.

"No schemes. Just returning the favor." Her words did nothing to sway it. "It would be much easier for me to do so if you would remove your armor." And not just that he wore over his chest.

He cocked his head minutely as he considered her request. The light refused to return to his eyes.

"Had you been there, you would not be so hospitable toward me."

The sudden overcast of his tone caught her somewhat off guard, but not enough to hide that this was just another one of his games. A defense mechanism. One that was meant to make her fingers clench and her heart beat just a little faster in her chest.

It only proved even the slightest bit effective when he reached down to begin unbinding the leather straps at his side.

She adjusted into a crouch, watching his fingers go to work with practiced haste.

"I'm not sure who I would've rooted for. I'll give you that."

A wild gleam filled his eyes as they turned on her; the way they laughed back at her instantly giving at least one of his opponents away.

"The defeated party, no doubt."

She had heard his words, but the sight of his back as the metal plate fell away from it garnered every ounce of her attention. The dark leather over his right shoulder had been ripped clean through, the bottom hem draping toward the ground like the solemn pages of a well-weathered book. She could see nothing but red beneath it.

"Thor did not do this to you," the affirmation slipped from her lips as she took a half-absent step to get a better look. With the tenderness of a feather's graze, she shifted the hanging material down just enough to get sight of what lie beneath.

"Are you not left wondering what _I_ did to him?"

The nonchalance of his question was meant to raise the small hairs along her neckline but she was far too busy gaping at the dark stain that drenched the material over his lower back.

"Loki, this is bad."

He tensed beneath her touch at the concerned sound of his name.

"How so?"

The question was low and honest. He truly had no idea.

"It's deep. Judging by the fact that you're still upright, your lung is intact, but I don't see how." Her brow cinched with a thought. "And to my knowledge, you are the only Asgardian here that wields a dagger…"

Her fingertips slid across the warm leather of his trench coat as he eased it back off his shoulders. It fell to the ground across the toes of her boots. Her eyes stayed fixed on his gaping wound.

"Ever observant, are we not?" Loki spoke harshly through the hiss of pain the small action pulled from him.

"Enough to know it was not one of yours." She blinked, ignoring the jab and rising to her feet with resolve. "I need to stop the bleeding."

"Then you will need this."

Loki flicked his left wrist and Jane watched in awe as a dagger shot out from his bracer and into his grip. It was not like the one he'd given her; harsher. A scorched black handle running smoothly into a wickedly curved blade. If Jane had still wondered just exactly who he'd come across out there, the weapon would have made it clear enough.

She slid her fingers around its rough texture when he held the handle out to her. It was still warm from its previous location against his skin. Her eyes rose to question him.

"It is iron and will hold heat much more effectively than steel."

The calm claim slapped her.

"You want me to…"

"Cauterize it. Yes." He nodded at her gravely. "If I am to heal quickly enough, it is what needs to be done. If you close the wound, I can take care of the rest."

Jane realized she was shaking her head.

"I… I don't know if I can…"

His grim gaze stopped both her words and motion.

"You have to."

His hand rose to hover just above his knee and she watched the cave around her glow brighter in the fire's growing light. There was no escaping this.

"You should lie down on your stomach until it gets hot enough," she instructed as she moved away to crouch beside the fire and pierce it with the blade. "At least we'll have gravity on our side."

She could hear him shuffling behind her.

"And _you_ should not hold that with your bare hands for too long," he returned flatly.

Though Jane knew it was just his way of staying ahead, it stunned her for a moment. She looked over her shoulder to find him struggling to spread his long coat across the floor and almost grinned. She set the dagger on the ground and took it from him, flattening it out in front of his feet with the sideways slide her palms.

Pardoning brown eyes rose to meet forged stoic emerald.

"Thank you," she offered with a soft smile before moving the clear the way for him.

For a long moment he stilled, a statue seated upon rock, and searched her face, his brow not fully deciding whether to furrow or stray. The eyes beneath it were hesitant.

"Do you need help?" She asked, breaking the heavy silence and his reverie.

"No," he eased cautiously onto his knees and inched his tall form forward across the dark material. "You've done quite enough already."

Jane didn't know quite how to take his words – not that she usually did, but the lack of bleakness behind them could only help prove them to be honest. She moved over to kneel near his waist.

"Push yourself up a little so I can lift your shirt," her fingers reached for the bottom hem mid-instruction. "If I caught it on fire, I wouldn't know whether to laugh or sympathize with you."

"Well now," he moved to oblige, pressing his palms against the floor and just barely lifting his torso. She could see in the lean, twitching muscle of his shoulders that he struggled, but it was not enough to bring down his cocked eyebrow. He spoke through clenched teeth. "If you wanted me to take my shirt off, you merely had to ask."

Her cheeks flushed. She blamed the Aether.

"You are in no position to mock," She scolded lightly until she lifted his shirt and got the full view of his assaulted skin. She shivered instead. Her hand automatically reached for the canteen at her hip. "Let me get this over with before I change my mind."

"It seems you already ha…"

Loki's words were swallowed by an agonizing hiss as Jane poured the still cold water around the cut. She wrapped the waist of her shirt around her fingers, doing what she could to clean the scarlet from his skin.

"I'm sorry," she breathed moving quickly to grab her jacket and wrapping it around the handle of the searing dagger. Its uncomfortable heat still managed to reach her palm. She pulled its glowing orange blade from the flames and turned to look down at him.

His head turned toward her, his hands falling to brace himself at either side. His eyes never left her face.

She could only imagine the look she wore upon it.

"This is going to hurt," she whispered, slowly reaching out to him with her free hand.

It was his turn to surprise her by taking it after only a heartbeat's worth of hesitation. His hand was cool and firm around her clammy fingers. They both trembled slightly.

"One…two…"

Jane pressed the red hot blade against the slick gash and watched as every muscle in his body tensed in a warrior's effort to keep still. His grip on her hand grew painful but she did not attempt to pull away. His other hand crumpled the jacket beneath it into an iron fist. He blurred before her eyes. Pure agony shone from his face; his eyes locked tight behind straining lids and his jaw clenching in a way that made her own teeth ache. It had nothing on the way it clawed at her heart. He turned his head straight, pressed his forehead hard against the ground, and breathed in hiss after hiss through his teeth.

A few seconds felt like an eternity, but when she lifted the iron from his skin, she was more than glad that one treatment had been effective, closing the wound entirely under darkened skin. It stood out in startling contrast against the rest of him. She quickly poured more cool water over it and watched as his form relaxed against the floor.

Jane picked the dagger back up and threw it across the cave. The heavy '_thung_' of iron bouncing from the wall and landing on the dirt shook through the air but Loki lay unmoving at the sound.

For a long time, she sat and watched the steadying rise and fall of his shoulders as he caught his breath. She followed his lead. When seconds drew on into minutes, she laid out on her side beside him to search his downturned face.

"Loki?" She whispered.

His hand flexed in hers. For a long while he was still.

When he finally turned his head in her direction, his eyes drew open with a warmness about them that made her glad she was already lying upon the ground. A lone tear was freed and fell to leather. A breath rattled from him.

"Thank you, Jane."

The whispered words slid her eyes closed in encompassing relief.

Only then did she realize that she cried too.

* * *

_**Epigraph:** Needle In The Dark - Passenger_


	13. Anomalies

**~  
A/N:  
**Hi guys! A sincere and belated HAPPY NEW YEARS to you all!  
I hope this chapter finds you warm and prosperous.

* * *

~  
_Truth, so true_  
_slight tendency_  
_for two by two_  
_to be as they meet_  
_Your waltz like repeating_  
_continues your dreaming_  
_in threes_

_You will bury the hatchet_  
_with an olive branch tied to your knees_  
~

* * *

Thor awoke with a startled jolt. Electricity sizzled and cracked from Mjölnir's edges. Though he was ready to face his enemy, he was met with only the annoying sting of sand burn and his brother's bitter rejection.

He blinked his eyes at the darkness and shook the sand from his hair.

His brother had lost all hope. There was no denying it after the look he'd seen upon his face when he'd mentioned Frigga. He also knew Loki blamed him. And he would take it without flinching so long as it lessened the load upon his brother's already straining shoulders.

Loki would never see it that way but he would not give up on him like the others.

He, himself had been given more chances at redemption than he felt worthy of. In fact, it was an undeserved gift from the same woman Loki had in his custody.

Thor did not ask about her whereabouts for that reason alone. If Loki was here then so was she and he could easily imagine what purpose she would serve his brother. He did not have to question it. It was always the same. And showing any interest would have been playing straight into his games... Yet, somehow he'd still lost.

And judging by the thinning clouds in the sky, he did not have much more time for fruitless endeavors.

He adjusted to see Sif still lying unconscious at his side.

"Sif," a large hand shook her rusted armored shoulder. "Sif, wake up. We must move."

She rose so suddenly that her blade sent dirt flying in Thor's direction and very nearly came down to take off his hand at the wrist.

He pulled back swiftly as widened eyes turned on him.

"You're alright," his voice was deep with assurance. "It's over."

Her face showed that she didn't quite believe him. After a moment, she exhaled and idly lowered her weapon to rest against her legs, kicking the dirt from her boots.

"This battle maybe, but the war has just begun."

"I fear you are more right than you know." Thor's eyes slinked to a scorching blue as they searched her face, trailing down to the smeared blood along the side of her jaw. "Did he hurt you?"

The question pulled her attention up to him. She blinked.

"No," she shook her head, her gaze dropping to her lap. "He made no move against me."

Her uncharacteristic hesitation spoke louder than her words.

Thor dipped his head to find her.

"That is not what I asked."

The silence that followed cleared the air enough to carry the clangs and cries of distant hostility to their ears. When their gaping eyes met, they were already on their feet.

* * *

He slipped into her dreams that night; all shades of green and black and golden steel. Wicked, white teethed smiles of a predator and a dark, watchful gaze.

It focused down on the burning city beneath them.

Fires flashed deep crimson across the skyline, barely lighting the night. Buildings toppled within themselves in black smoke. Jane recognized a few of them. She could feel the heat brushing past her skin as the energy rose to escape the madness. The sound of tinkling glass shattering against concrete muffled the rising screams of alarms and sirens and twisting metal…innocents who weren't so lucky. Mangled skeletons of vehicles bruised the streets below in ashen grey.

Her fingers wrapped tight around the balcony banister, her white knuckles matching his as she looked over it. Her heart filled her throat as she observed the past mingling so fluidly with a very conceivable future.

"Magnificent, isn't it?"

It was his voice, but it scratched through the air as thickly as the smoke. It choked her.

She looked at over at him. What armor she could see glinted in the firelight. His other half was hidden within the shadows; though unhindered satisfaction shone mockingly clear in the bright blue glow of his eyes. They remained that way even after the energy blasts faded from the nearby skies. She looked away from him with a renewed swell of sickness in her gut.

"No…" she breathed, scanning the line of battered skyscrapers on the horizon, stripped of walls and structure. What truly robbed the air from her lungs was that she realized it was only half true. She attempted to collect herself. "This is a nightmare."

Jane sensed his attention turn to her, jabbing shards of scorched steel deep in between each of her vertebrae.

"Only because it is not complete yet."

He paused and her skin bristled as his paces swept across the floor just behind her. Too close. Her shoulders tensed and rose to protect her neck.

"You've stolen something from me, child."

The assertion in the words woke her skin. His voice was still off and _much_ too close. She turned around to find it. Now, Jane could see that the right half of his face was scorched as black as the sky above and the scowl that twisted within the scars was not one she found familiar.

She took a step back from him, her lower back arching away as it pressed against the balcony.

He took a step toward her, icy eyes growing possessive in a way that would have almost been convincing had they been the right color.

"And when I get it back, you will _long_ for ruins to mourn."

The words dripped with black promise. Their sincerity snapped her awake.

Jane shot up into a sitting position and focused on slowing her heart rate instead of her protesting muscles. Wide eyes darted through blinding waves of red.

As the cave slowly began to reappear around her, she searched for him; anxious over both what she would or would not find. He was not standing in his usual post. Night had fallen beyond the cave, but the dim shadows were empty. Her heart drummed a little louder in her ears…

Until everything came flooding back.

She looked down to her side and was surprised to find him still stretched on his stomach across the floor. He lay in the same position she'd left him in, his head turned to face her and his empty palm curved slightly over the ground.

When her heart slowed and she could hear again, the soft rasps of rhythmic breathing gave away that he was asleep.

His peacefulness steadily eased her anxiety just as much as it shook her, gently pulling her back down to the ground. She took a few labored breaths, trailing her eyes along his softened features. The fire light flicked the shadows away just enough. She could find no gruesome scars or bitter snarls; just the lessening of grey circles over pale skin and a fully relaxed brow. She'd never seen it in such a way… never seen him in such a way; such a show of ease and equanimity…

So… vulnerable. Just as she had been, asleep at his side.

Her fingers moved on their own accord as they followed the trail her eyes had marked over his; just over his right eyebrow, where a deep crescent indention should have been. She felt nothing but cool, smooth skin beneath her light touch.

It twisted her own brow and edged her heart. Her gaze moved to find his back. The only mark he bore looked as if it were already days old; rough red skin trimmed in soft pink. The rest of him was porcelain. He had let her press searing iron to his skin – practically made her – but somehow this… _this _was altogether different.

She looked at him again. Truly looked at him. And it felt like it was the first time she had ever done so.

What she found beneath the hardened mask he wore so comfortably upon his features was as unearthly as it was human. She'd only seen a glimpse of it before. It was much easier to do when his eyes were hidden. Long, dark lashes nearly brushed against marble cheekbones. His relaxed jawline put the Greek gods to shame. An aristocratic nose and parted chapped lips, the only sign of the land's wear upon him, centered his features so seamlessly that she wondered how she had never noticed before.

But when she thought about it for too long, she couldn't decide which appearance was his true mask.

She drew her hand back as if it had been scorched and stood to move away. What was wrong with her? She scolded herself for reaching out to test danger... _Again_. Though this time, it struck back much differently…

Just maybe this challenge _was_ too much for her.

She left the enclosure of the cave and paced in small sweeps beyond the entrance, searching the ground for answers and taking deep breaths of the crisp night air to clear her head. She recognized an oncoming panic attack easily, though her reaction to being stowed in an elven ship was as close as she'd gotten to one in years.

She refilled it with visions of her nightmare instead. It was just another show of power. But this time he had _been_ there; placed himself so carelessly in her dreams… as the wrong enemy. One she realized she knew much too well for her own comfort. But Malekith's threats were anything but empty.

The echoing memory of his words did not help.

She spun and dipped down into a crouch, leaning her head forward against cool stone and wrapping both arms tight around her midsection. For a long while, she hid in the serene darkness she found behind closed eyes.

* * *

Thor and Sif arrived to the outskirts of combat just as the second wave of reinforcements crashed off to the west. The conduit tossed up even more dust into the heavy air. He spotted Volstagg's mighty axe glint through the sky before it tore through the commotion. A sudden wash of restlessness overtook him. He turned to Sif.

"Remember the contingency plan?"

She snorted at him.

"It will not be needed."

And before he could respond, he was following her sprint into the wall of clashing black and silver.

Before long he had lost sight of her, of everything, instead slipping into the familiar frenzy of battle. He swore the hammer came alive in his palm, sending an energy through him like no other he had ever experienced.

As his solemn quest for vengeance brought his hammer down over and over again upon the Dark Elf forces, he thought he may finally understand just what Loki had felt back there in the open desert; the wounded look that crossed his face he'd seen a thousand times too many.

He could have done more to protect Loki from their father's wrath. More instances than he could recall. He could have followed him into the even darker abyss he'd slipped into and shared in its burden. He _could_ have stayed at their mother's side instead of chasing the rush.

But he had only failed him yet again.

He grit his teeth as he called to the skies, upper cutting a masked figure with Mjölnir in the process.

"Come now, that one was mine! Do not let Volstagg see you dwindling my count."

"My apologies?" Thor pulled himself together just in time to dodge a curved dagger lunged toward his hip. It and its wielder met the dirt just as quickly without even impeding his flow of energy. "I did not realize you still kept tally…"

He heard Fandral's chuckle from a few feet behind him over the clang of metal as he hastily found another opponent. The clouds grew heavy and lightning struck in sporadic jolts across the battlefield.

"You do seem a bit distracted."

"Not now, Fandral."

Thor brushed him off as enemy elves swarmed him in a wave of dust and desperation. All at once, he allowed the darkening clouds overhead to empty themselves upon the battlefield and lay the land's fury to rest.

"Thor."

He flinched at the sound of his name and the pressure upon his shoulder as it broke through his avid concentration. He found the land around them scorched clear and a concerned look upon his friend's dampened face.

"We have this. Go."

* * *

She'd missed the soft scuffle come from inside the cave but felt the air stir around her. A soft grunt. Then all fell silent again.

He was close. She knew it by the calming of her bones though the skin around them failed to catch on. Her fingers relaxed over her ribs as they expanded with a steadying breath.

"I'd rather you didn't see me like this."

The words were muffled by the close rock and sounded pathetic to her ears. It wasn't like it was the first time, though this time at least part of her reasoning would very likely turn her cheeks red should he ask.

An hour could have passed before he replied and she felt each wretched second as it ticked by.

"It is only fair," his tone was raspy with sleep. It soothed like balm. He sighed. "Besides I know better than to trust my eyes at first glance here."

Jane was oddly thankful that he was not one to pry without malicious intent. Her temple slid against the smooth stone as she turned just enough to find him. His head tilted back to rest against the wall of rock. He sat with one leg tucked beneath another, his back straight, allowing only the pressure of his long hair and tattered tunic to rest over it.

His eyes were already on her. They glowed. His whole form seemed to.

"Then what do they see?" She asked in a whisper.

She watched a distant light touch the corners of his eyes before it graced his lips in the form of a tired half-smile.

"Look up, Jane."

She blinked, half confused by the mild request before adjusting to consent. What she found caused her to collapse onto her backside with a shocked gasp.

There were no clouds. Only wispy swirls of burgundy mist laced the sky. It did nothing to damper the billions of stars tucked beneath them; dotting the darkness in a way Jane had once never thought possible. Especially not here. A handful of them were huge, white diamond facets in the night, sparkling so brightly that they almost seemed reachable from right where she sat. Others were distant, an explosion of ruby reds and sapphire blues along the horizon as the art that was science painted a masterpiece before her eyes.

She gaped shamelessly. She only realized so when he chuckled at her.

"You are fascinated by such trifling wonders."

It was an honest observation, though her undivided attention wouldn't have allowed her to notice had it been anything else anyway.

"I guess trifling means something else on Asgard than it does on Earth…" Jane mused, grateful for such an astonishing distraction, "because I've never seen anything like this." She looked over at him and found he regarded the twinkling orbs in a way that showed he wasn't as unaffected as he wanted her to believe. It made her curious. "Have you?"

She caught the thinning of his eyes just before her gaze matched his on the sky.

"It is an anomaly for such a realm," he seemed to struggle with his words. "But yes, I have seen astronomical displays much more impressive… Though never so bright."

His sudden change of mood pulled her down with him. She turned to question him carefully; silently, but the answers she sought struck her mid-motion. Only one thing seemed to affect him so deeply.

"Then she must be up there smiling down at you," Jane began gently. She remembered the way people had tried to soothe her after her own loss. His head lifted toward her in interest. "If she was in any way unhappy I'm sure we would have a lot more to worry about than a few elves and dark matter."

Only his eyes paid caution to her wit. His jaw relaxed.

"Careful with your claims. You know not who you speak of."

She smiled sadly at him and softly shook her head at the sky.

"No, I never got the opportunity to meet her… But I've met your father. I saw what he was capable of. How he acted and ruled and carried himself…Quite frankly, his ego was annoying." Jane took a breath and leaned her back against the wall at his side. "But from what I've gathered, the two of you only had one thing in common... So I can only assume your traits were learned from someone else."

"He is not my father," His murmur rumbled with disdain.

The statement and his focus upon it came as no surprise.

"And you are not his son," her genuine belief kept her tone as level as if they were talking about the weather. "If you were, you would have never even given me a chance."

He lolled his head to look over at her with halfhearted suspicion. It was sad because it was real.

"I am still waiting for that to come back to bite me," he supplied easily.

Jane had expected something of the sort, but not for it to bother her.

"The iron did that for me… and not everything has to, you know" she looked evenly back at him. "You can at very least trust that I don't want this to be the last night sky I see."

Something in him changed with her words. She watched it release the grip on his eyes and wrinkle the bridge of his nose.

"It would be a pity. There are far more elegant sights to behold out there."

She scoffed softly. Her brow rose as she looked up.

"I'm not sure I can believe you."

"Good. Then we understand each other."

Her leveling gaze snapped down to find a thin lipped smirk. It lifted the intensity from her features but not her thoughts. For a moment, she rolled them over in her head.

"What are you so afraid of?"

He swallowed. His eyes turned to glass as they lifted to mirror diamonds for a long while. She picked up a small pebble from the ground to keep her hands busy and listened to the soft moan of the wind as it bowed around rock.

"Failure, Jane," he spoke quietly, stirring the night and her heart, and sent an exasperated huff to the sky. "I have faced it one too many times and lost everything that ever truly mattered to me in the process. If I fail this time, it will all have meant nothing... And I cannot allow that."

She had wanted nothing more than an explanation from him from the beginning… Never did she imagine she would understand his motives so easily. It plagued her. He had lost one of the few people that he truly loved and would do whatever it took to see that she was avenged.

It was the only trait he shared with Odin.

But she had still been whisked into the midst of it all.

"What does that make me?" Jane asked carefully.

Her eyes fell to her hands as they slowly clenched in her lap as she awaited the strike of his answer. She froze as his own maneuvered over to smooth her fingernails from her palm. He rolled the small stone from her fingers and into his own.

"You are Jane of Midgard... And nothing less. That much you have proven."

She watched speechlessly as he drew a line in the dirt between them with his pointer finger, dotting it with eight small circles. He carefully set the stone in the middle of them.

"You may have lost your way, but never your place." He arched a raven brow at her. "Would you like me to show you where that is at this exact moment?"

She could barely nod.

And for the next few hours, she could only manage to continue nodding and adding further detail as he thoroughly explained exactly why cement trucks were weightless in some areas back on Earth; how the beautiful sight above them was actually a sign of impending doom; going into vivid detail over how he would literally shut Malekith's small window of time across his neck if he had the power to... And just how far ahead of his era Clark had truly been.

* * *

_**Epigraph: **Son My Son - Milo Greene_


End file.
